DM Monitoring
ANKARA: Ties between Turkey and the European Union are in a better place now thanks to constructive steps taken by Europe, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said.
“We are not engaging in new initiatives toward the EU because of sanctions. We decided to approach the EU because of their constructive stance toward Turkey during the union’s December summit,” Çavuşoğlu expressed during a joint news conference with his German counterpart Heiko Maas in the capital Ankara.
Maas agreed with Çavuşoğlu on opening a new chapter in bilateral ties. “Our efforts are for establishing constructive and sustainable ties between Turkey and the EU,” he said. Last week, Çavuşoğlu, alongside President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, held a meeting with EU ambassadors in Ankara, during which Turkey’s intention to restore strong bilateral ties with the union was highlighted. Turkey is ready to set a “positive agenda” with the EU, including a long-term perspective, the president said during the meeting, adding that relations must get back on track. Erdoğan said last week in a statement that Turkey prioritizes the EU in its agenda and sees its future in Europe. Ankara hopes to start afresh with the bloc in the new year, the president said, adding that interactions with the EU in 2020 were unproductive due to the artificial problems created by certain EU members.
Other than the bilateral ties between Brussels and Ankara, four topics are expected to dominate the agenda: updating the migrant deal with the EU, visa liberalization for Turkish citizens, updating the customs union with the EU and Turkey’s proposal for an Eastern Mediterranean conference. EU leaders during a meeting in Brussels on Dec. 10 decided to draw up a list of Turkish targets for sanctions over what they described as Ankara’s “unilateral actions and provocations” in the Eastern Mediterranean, an area believed to be rich in energy resources.
As far as the Eastern Mediterranean crisis is concerned, Çavuşoğlu said Monday that the 61st exploratory talks with Greece will start next week. “We will discuss the topics that we have talked about at the previous 60 (talks),” he said. “If Greece insists on not cooperating, then the responsibility of any tension between the two countries will be on Athens’ shoulders,” the foreign minister warned, noting that so far the dialogue process has been interrupted multiple times due to the Greek side’s reluctance to participate.
Turkey and Greece announced last week that they will resume the 61st round of exploratory talks on Jan. 25 in Istanbul. The first round of talks was initiated between the two countries in 2002. The most recent, 60th round was held in Athens on March 1, 2016. After this date, bilateral negotiations continued in the form of political consultations but did not return to an exploratory framework.
Talks are expected to focus on bilateral disputes, including maritime boundaries and drilling rights in the region.
Turkey, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected maritime boundary claims by Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, stressing that the excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots.
