Yesterday was an important day for Turkey.
Because in Brussels and at the meeting of European Union foreign ministers, positive signals were sent to Turkey.
As they decided to cancel the EU sanctions decision on Turkey at the next summit.
Where the German Foreign Minister said that Turkey’s move to negotiate with Greece was a positive and valuable step, and that there was no need to impose sanctions on the country.
And that the European Union’s foreign policy coordinator had indicated Turkey’s constructive action for the sake of dialogue.
Of course, the results of yesterday’s meeting do not mean the complete elimination of the danger.
In any case, this position on the union has pleased the leaders of Turkey, and they hope that in the post-corona stage they will be able to gradually deal with the Turkish economy.
And with the positive signals coming from Brussels and economic credit institutions.
Global banks, investment companies and multinational companies have a better view of operating and operating in Turkey.
Cavusoglu victory or Maas?
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu arrived in Belgium a few days ago to meet with European Union leaders.
He met almost all European Union officials, including Council President Charles Michel, Foreign Minister Joseph Borrell and European Commission President Ursula Vanderlein.
But the position of foreign ministers in Brussels yesterday showed the fact that the current positive view of the European Union to Turkey was not the result of Cavusoglu’s diplomatic efforts, but rather the result of the successful mediation of German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas is a diplomat who has played a special role as mediator.
He had previously sought to create an atmosphere of dialogue between Turkey and Greece, and returned empty-handed from the capitals of Ankara and Athens.
Nevertheless, on the advice of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Union officials.
Maas continued his efforts, eventually thawing the ice and placing the Turkish and Greek governments on the negotiating table despite many difficulties.
The new round of Greek delegation’s meetings in Turkey and their talks with Ibrahim Kulin, the president’s spokesman and chief Erdogan’s advisor for foreign policy and national security, have yielded promising results so far.
Nevertheless, the decision to continue the talks and hold the next round of talks in Athens is a valuable event for the European Union.
Why is Greece so important?
The tweet of the President of the European Union, Josep Borrell, about Turkey’s political behavior and Europe’s stance towards the country contains a very important point.
He wrote that “Reaffirmed with Ministers importance of engaging with Turkey to advance, consolidate dialogue + avoid returning to escalation.
Launching of exploratory talks between Greece and Turkey today is an important step.
Equally important to ensure the restart of the United Nations-led Cyprus settlement.”
The start of exploration talks between Greece and Turkey is an important step.
Of course, it is equally important to ensure that the UN-led Cyprus agreement resumes.
In recent years Turkey has come under repeated criticism by the European Union.
The special rapporteurs of the Union Parliament have consistently pointed out that Turkey is far behind European standards in terms of democracy, political development, rule of law, central government rights, freedom of expression and minority rights.
Interestingly, however, these criticisms almost never resulted in a punitive approach, and what was done for Turkey was only to slow Turkey’s membership in the European Union negotiations.
Of course, once upon a time, Kati Piri, a former reporter, heightened the tension so much that entire negotiations to complete the membership process were put on hold for a while.
Nevertheless, the current approach of the European Union demonstrates that important issues such as the full protection of the rights and interests of official members of the European Union (Greece and Cyprus), are the main and most important factor for the European Union.
From the European Union’s point of view, the emphasis on the Greek issue and the necessity to resolve the Athens-Ankara conflict is not just an expression of the importance of relations between the two European countries.
It is a series of other important issues.
In addition to the Cyprus issue and Turkey’s views on the defect in the Turkish Republic of Cyprus.
These include Turkey’s access to oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean, the Turkish Maritime Security Agreement, and the Libyan Government of National Accord.
In the future, issues such as the mechanism for transporting gas from Israel to Europe and Turkey’s membership in the European Union, or its non-membership in the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, will be discussed step by step.
While Borrell stressed the importance of Greece and Cyprus, European Union Council President Charles Michel tweeted another, brief and important point: “Dialogue needs to produce tangible outcomes in the interest of both EU and Turkey.”
Michel’s position makes it clear that in addition to a subtle division of labor among EU leaders to deal with Turkey’s actions and contain its actions, the focus is on “achieving results” and avoiding the option of “negotiating in order to negotiate” with EU leaders.
It is vital and they want the talks between Turkey and Greece to reach a clear conclusion anyway.
Second, for the United Nations to be able to clarify the mission of the issue by continuing the Cyprus talks, and third for Turkey to move in light of the talks in the eastern Mediterranean and to find a clear arrangement.
Contact or membership of Turkey in the European Union is the issue
Finally, there are two important questions that must be answered:
1- Will the future of relations with the European Union be fundamentally upended, and can this current situation remain stable?
2- Can an agreement in these areas have a decisive effect on the completion of Turkey’s membership in the European Union?
In response, Ankara’s leaders discussed their general policies in the eastern Mediterranean and how to engage with the European Union.
In addition to the issue of the important energy resources off the coast of Cyprus, the new US developments and the installation of the Biden administration.
And one of the main reasons for starting negotiations with Greece and adopting a moderate approach to exploration and extraction is that they have a glimpse into the possible reactions of the new US president, Joe Biden.
Some also argue that, contrary to popular belief, negotiating with a country like Greece is extremely difficult and complicated.
According to the clear and technical viewpoints of experts in this field, the Greeks have an extremely greedy and aggressive stance towards their maritime, continental and border rights, and their final agreement with the Erdogan government will require several other meetings.
Therefore, it is not safe to say that the current spring climate between Turkey and the EU will remain stable and the current situation is somewhat fragile.
In response to the second question, it must be said that the European Union’s criticism of Turkey in the political, legal and financial fields is still strong.
As a result, the current positive climate between Turkey and the European Union does not necessarily facilitate Turkey’s full EU membership process.
It will only ensure better and trouble-free communications. Which could bring positive economic and political benefits to the AKP government.
And perhaps, issuing a blank check signed for full membership for Turkey in the European Union.
