DM Monitoring
ANKARA: Awindow of opportunity has emerged to revive the dialogue between Turkey and the European Union, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said.
Speaking at an online joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart Stef Blok within the scope of the eighth Turkey-Netherlands Wittenburg Conference, Çavuşoğlu stated that even though 2020 has been a “difficult” year for bilateral ties with the union, 2021 has started with new opportunities.
The foreign minister underlined that in his one-to-one meetings with other countries’ foreign ministers, including Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain, he saw that majority of EU members support having well-established ties with Turkey.
During a meeting in Brussels on Dec. 10, EU leaders decided to draw up a list of Turkish targets to sanction. While France, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration have pushed hardest for a tough line on Turkey, other EU states led by economic powerhouse Germany have so far been keen on a more diplomatic approach. Since then, the rhetoric on all sides has mellowed dramatically as Turkey and the bloc voiced their intent to “turn a new page.”
Turkey has recently reiterated that it is part of the bloc and sees its future in the EU, while it will continue efforts toward full membership. Turkish officials have also said that they hope for progress in 2021 and expect the bloc to take definitive action to this end.
Pointing at the fact that a genuine partnership between the union and Turkey would enable a real change in areas such as the migrant crisis, trade, energy, security and defense, as well as in countries like Syria and Libya, Çavuşoğlu said that with 2016’s Migrant Deal, both sides proved their ability to cooperate already.
When it comes to Turkey’s expectations, the foreign minister stated that the priority is on updating the terms of the Migrant Deal. In March 2016, Ankara and Brussels signed an agreement to reduce the number of migrants taking the dangerous Aegean Sea route to Europe and to find a solution for the influx of migrants heading to EU countries.
Under the deal, Turkey was promised 6 billion euros ($6.77 billion) in financial aid to be used by the Turkish government to finance projects for Syrian migrants.
