Awindow of opportunity exists for longtime rivals Türkiye and Greece to strengthen and normalize ties, Athens’ Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said on Tuesday.

During his talk at the London School of Economics, Gerapetritis answered Anadolu Agency’s (AA) questions on two-way relations, emphasizing the importance of a “deliberative approach” in foreign policy.

“I am very fond of the basic idea of deliberative processes in foreign policy and every aspect of life. I just aspire that anytime we have a dispute, it doesn’t eventually conclude in crisis,” he said.

Recognizing the fundamental differences between the two countries, he stressed the need for open discussions and resolution, underlining the significance of diplomacy in navigating disputes.

“We have jointly decided to leave aside our disputes,” Gerapetritis said, underscoring the belief that these differences should not hinder diplomatic dialogue.

Calm in Aegean

According to Gerapetritis, confidence-building measures in defense and military will be vital in improving relations.

On possible steps being pursued, he said the Greek government has appointed a diplomat to lead the confidence-building discussions between the two.

Pointing out the current calm in the Aegean Sea, he said it was “very important” to maintain this.

“What I keep on saying is that irrespective of whether we resolve our basic issues concerning delegation of military zones, it is by itself important to extend the period of calmness over the Aegean for as long as we can,” said Gerapetritis.

The Aegean dispute encompasses a series of interconnected controversies between Greece and Türkiye concerning sovereignty and associated rights in the region of the body of water between the two countries.

These conflicts have significantly strained Greek-Turkish relations since the 1970s and sometimes brought the two nations to the brink of military hostilities.

Despite opposition from some groups in both Greece and Türkiye, Gerapetritis stressed the imperative of working toward reconciliation and peaceful coexistence.

“This is definitely an asset for our discussion, and I can see that there are some people and groups in Greece and Türkiye, as well, who are opposing the idea of rapprochement of the two countries.

“I expected this but respectfully disagree with it. We have to live together. We have to work hard to live in peace,” he said.

There has been a rapprochement in Turkish-Greek relations in recent months, encouraged by the goodwill and humanitarian assistance shown on both sides earlier this year when southeastern Türkiye was rocked by two deadly earthquakes and Greece suffered a tragic train incident.

Both sides have warned against steps and statements that could damage the current environment of trust as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pledged to maintain the positive atmosphere after holding two rare face-to-face meetings.

Mindset change

The Greek foreign minister also argued that fostering good neighborly relations and mitigating the risk of tension or conflict should be prioritized over accelerating processes that may be divisive between Athens and Ankara.

“And I think it’s much better to be able to mitigate the risks of tension or war instead of trying to accelerate that process. And I think this is my responsibility toward the Greek citizens and especially with future generations,” he underlined.

Addressing the potential for increased collaboration, Gerapetritis revealed that the two nations were set to sign agreements in crucial areas.

“We have decided to focus not on things to separate us, but the things that actually unite us; for example, we have an ambitious political agenda that has agreements that will be signed in the near future concerning economy, tourism, education, culture.

“I think there is a different mindset in Türkiye-Greek relations. And, I think we should focus on win-win solutions to our issues and that’s why I’m working very hard with my colleagues.”

“I strongly believe in people-to-people diplomacy. We have to raise awareness among people concerning good neighborly relations,” Gerapetritis asserted.

Source: Daily Sabah

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European Union which was initially warm toward Türkiye for the revival of accession talks after Ankara proposed a thaw last summer appears to be turning its back to the country again as it gears up for progress on the accession of Moldova and Ukraine on Wednesday

European Union did not change much in its stance toward Türkiye. Türkiye, nevertheless, sped up the process for progress in accession talks before relations, at least on a political level, deteriorated.

When figures in the EU talk about the new members that might join the union by 2030, there is no mention of Türkiye. It is a glaring omission noticed by Ankara.

When the European Union published its annual reports on candidate countries’ progress toward EU norms on Wednesday, all eyes will be on Ukraine and Moldova.

Türkiye, a formal candidate for membership since 1999, will barely be discussed, but it wasn’t always the case. After EU leaders approved the start of accession talks with Türkiye in 2004, the then-British premier Tony Blair hailed it as a historic event showing no clash of civilizations. But European leaders at the time found themselves stuck in a tussle with Ankara over the divided island of Cyprus. This crisis proved to be only a foretaste of the turbulent relationship. Today, ties are more transactional than a path toward partnership, even if neither side will openly admit this. Experts nevertheless still point to limited areas in which the relationship can improve.

For many EU member states, the long-stalled accession talks are dead in all but name. In September, Austria, long opposed to Türkiye’s membership, even called for the process to end.

EU officials privately say this would be more honest, but no one wants to make the first move.

After the Turkish elections in May, EU leaders revived hopes for improvement. They ordered the EU’s executive arm and its foreign policy chief to prepare a report on how to develop the relationship. The report is due before December’s next summit gathering of EU leaders, but experts and EU officials warn against expecting any real improvement in ties.

“I’m not expecting any meaningful revitalization of the relationship because there are limited areas where progress can really be made,” said Senem Aydın-Düzgit, an international relations professor at Istanbul’s Sabancı University.

There is “Turkish fatigue” in Europe, as Austria’s comments show, said the European Parliament’s Türkiye rapporteur, Nacho Sanchez Amor. “We are tired of maintaining the accession process alive when apparently there is no real political will from the other side to advance on democratic standards,” the MEP said. Amor was behind what Türkiye called a one-sided, unobjective report by the European Parliament that dealt a blow to relations.

Commenting on the report, Turkish Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç has criticized the writing of the report “under the influences of some marginalized circles, as we have seen frequently in EU circles in recent years.” Tunç was referring to usual lobbies adversary to Türkiye’s accession bid, from groups endorsing the terrorist groups targeting Türkiye to those opposing a fair solution to the Cyprus question where the Turkish Cypriot side of the island is not recognized and any efforts for a two-state solution is quashed.

The Turkish-EU relationship’s transactional nature deepened after the two sides agreed on a deal in 2016 under which the EU threw billions of euros at Ankara to stop migrants coming to Europe after the 2015 refugee crisis.

“Transactional is not a derogatory term,” Amor said. “Don’t mix the accession process, which has its own rules based on values and principles, with the rest of the relationship.” The report due later this year will likely recommend updating the customs union, for which Türkiye’s trade minister was in Brussels in October to drum up support.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned in September that Türkiye could “part ways with the EU if necessary” after the scathing report by the bloc, just two months after Erdoğan voiced Türkiye’s willingness to revive the membership bid.

Turkish ambassador to the EU reaffirmed commitment to accession but acknowledged it would not be easy. “The Turkish government is committed to EU membership,” said Faruk Kaymakcı. “What we expect is equal treatment among candidate countries.”

Many observers and Turks seek clarity, while others argue the nail was firmly in the coffin when then-French president Nicolas Sarkozy and former German chancellor Angela Merkel together came out against Türkiye’s membership in 2009. Also, in its biggest defender Britain left the EU in a setback for Türkiye,

There is, however, pressure from the United States not to end accession negotiations, an EU official said, with Washington desperate to keep Türkiye out of Russia’s arms and closer to the West amid Moscow’s attack on Ukraine. Brussels now faces a bigger dilemma about Ukraine’s future membership and the challenges and opportunities its accession would bring. One that some say blows any chance of Türkiye’s membership.

“Ukraine’s membership would change the EU, and it could not take on another member like Türkiye,” the official told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Source: Daily Sabah

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Türkiye has slammed an annual report from the European Commission (EC) on its long-stalled membership bid as “unjust and biased.”

The report by the European Union’s executive arm on Wednesday accused Türkiye of “serious backsliding” on democratic standards, the rule of law, human rights and judicial independence.

“We categorically reject unfounded claims and unjust criticisms, particularly on the political criteria and the Chapter on Judiciary and Fundamental Rights,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Commission also claimed Türkiye did not comply with the principles of the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms in its fight against terrorism.

The Turkish ministry said the allegations were unfair and highlighted “the insincerity of the EU’s approach and a clear double standard,” adding that fundamental rights issues were contentious even among EU member states.

It argued the bloc was acting “in contradiction” by blocking existing high-level dialogue on foreign policy, security and other issues while claiming a decrease in Türkiye’s alignment rate on said areas.

“The report’s claim that Türkiye ‘failed to meet its obligations under the Customs Union, which is an obstacle to bilateral trade relations’ is also misleading since it’s the EU’s politicization of the negotiations aimed at updating the Customs Union that is the main obstacle in this regard,” the ministry added.

The Commission’s report is meant to update Türkiye’s progress toward meeting standards for EU membership and could strain ties that are already troubled over immigration and, more recently, Israel’s war on the Palestinian resistance group Hamas in Gaza.

It’s the EU who is on the wrong side of history regarding the massacre of Palestinians, the ministry said and called on the members to “remember universal values, international law and humanitarian principles.”

Türkiye’s bid to join the EU has been frozen for years after having launched membership talks in 2005 which fell apart when European leaders couldn’t overcome their issue with Ankara over the divided island of Cyprus.

Today, ties are more transactional than a path toward partnership, even if neither side will openly admit this.

Ankara accuses the bloc of “hindering” its accession due to “geopolitical reasons.”

During President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rule, Türkiye took significant steps to fulfill the criteria for membership of the 27-member bloc, while heightening bilateral relations with EU states.

Yet, ties deteriorated due to the EU’s continuing tolerance of terrorist groups, particularly the PKK, which the bloc has outlawed.

Differing views on other issues further eroded trust between the two sides, although Türkiye and the EU remain major trade partners.

For many EU member states, the long-stalled accession talks are dead in all but name. In September, Austria, long opposed to Türkiye’s membership, even called for the process to end.

EU officials privately say this would be more honest, but no one wants to make the first move.

After the Turkish elections in May, EU leaders revived hopes for improvement. They ordered the EU’s executive arm and its foreign policy chief to prepare a report on how to develop the relationship.

The report is due before December’s next summit gathering of EU leaders, but experts and EU officials warn against expecting any real improvement in ties.

It was Erdoğan, again, proposing a revival of ties as he attended a NATO summit in Vilnius last summer.

The EU welcomed Erdoğan’s proposal, but a scathing report by the European Parliament critical of Türkiye angered Ankara, and Erdoğan has stated that they might reconsider the accession bid.

The Turkish ambassador to the EU reaffirmed commitment to accession, but acknowledged it would not be easy.

“The Turkish government is committed to EU membership,” said Faruk Kaymakçı. “What we expect is equal treatment among candidate countries.”

Source: Daily Sabah

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Prominent experts on Turkish-Greek relations voiced optimism about the prospects of improved bilateral relations which have seen a significant thaw in recent months.

Recalling previous times of rapprochement between the two NATO allies in the 1980s, late 1990s and early 2000s, when resolution of disputes seemed likely, Mustafa Aydın, a professor of international relations at the Kadir Has University in Istanbul, emphasized that there is more reason for optimism this time around.

“Elections in both countries produced governments with strong popular mandates, who I hope will use this window of opportunity,” he told Anadolu Agency (AA), adding that both sides are already aware of each other’s concerns, limits and priorities.

Furthermore, according to Aydın, rapprochement with Greece is part of Türkiye’s wider ongoing endeavor of improving relations with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel and Egypt.

He pointed out that Greece, which has only recently overcome a decade-long financial crisis, is also seeking a new role and place in the EU.

“In this context, it is important for Greece to have better relations with Türkiye so it can feel safe,” Aydın said.

Additionally, uneasy relations with Türkiye have forced Greece to spend massive amounts on arms deals, which put a profound financial burden on the country, he added.

Therefore, Aydın said, there are strong reasons to be more hopeful about improved relations and actual solutions to the longstanding disputes between the two countries.

‘Condemned to live together’

Evantis Hatzivassiliou, a professor at the University of Athens, remarked that the countries ought to find a way to peacefully live together.

“There is no doubt Türkiye and Greece are condemned to live in the same geographical space. There is no way either of us could take our country and go someplace else,” he said.

This realization was also behind previous moves for rapprochement, he said.

“It is the correct stand to make in bilateral relations to realize that sharing the same region, we also share major characteristics. We share common fears and common hopes. And also a common culture,” he emphasized.

Lessons of history

Pointing to the excellent bilateral relations from 1930 to 1955, Enis Tulca, a professor at the Galatasaray University in Istanbul, said history proves that converging interests can bring Türkiye and Greece together.

It is important to remember that the period of cordial relations started just seven years after the foundation of the Republic of Türkiye, he said.

“Bilateral relations at the time reached a peak in 1934. In January, Eleftherios Venizelos nominated Mustafa Kemal Atatürk for the Nobel Peace Prize,” Tulca said.

“In February, the Balkan Entente, the mutual defense agreement between Greece, Türkiye, Romania and Yugoslavia, was signed. In the same year, Greece asked Türkiye to allow the Turkish Embassy in Iran’s capital Tehran to represent Greek interests as well.”

Türkiye also sent vast amounts of humanitarian aid to Greece during the German occupation of the country from 1941-1944, which led to the death of hundreds of thousands of Greeks due to starvation, he added. It’s a sentiment echoed earlier this year when both nations stood by each other following natural disasters.

The two neighbors are in a region full of challenges, but they can again achieve the excellent relations they had decades ago, Tulca concluded.

Ankara and Athens are reviving their high-level strategic peace talks with an upcoming summit in Thessaloniki in December, which is expected to be an important leap in bilateral ties.

Both sides have warned against steps and statements that could damage the current environment of trust as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pledged to maintain the positive atmosphere after holding two rare face-to-face meetings.

Source: Daily Sabah

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Friday that Türkiye failed to gain speed in its European Union membership process “because of EU’s openly hostile stance.”

Addressing an event in remembrance of Turkish republic’s founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in the capital Ankara, Erdoğan said the bloc has become desperate and will “keep knocking on Türkiye’s door,” but it was fast losing the “chance of ending its strategic blindness.”

Ankara has been critical of a recent EU enlargement report it termed as “biased.”

The report, containing an accusatory tone toward Türkiye on democracy and human rights, came at a time of Türkiye’s hope for a revival of ties.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated the EU was engaged in a new discussion for enlargement, “under new geopolitical circumstances.”

The EU seeks to expand its membership under the shadow of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, seeking more allies.

This week, EU figures convened to talk about new members that might join the union by 2024, like Ukraine and Moldova, without any mention of Türkiye, a formal candidate since 1999.

After EU leaders approved the start of accession talks with Türkiye in 2004, the then-British premier Tony Blair hailed it as a historic event showing no clash of civilizations. But European leaders at the time found themselves stuck in a tussle with Ankara over the divided island of Cyprus.

This crisis proved to be only a glimpse of the turbulent relationship to come.

During Erdoğan’s rule, Türkiye took significant steps to fulfill the criteria for membership of the 27-member bloc, while heightening bilateral relations with EU states.

Yet, ties deteriorated due to the EU’s continuing tolerance of terrorist groups, particularly the PKK, which the bloc has outlawed.

It was Erdoğan, again, proposing a revival of ties as he attended a NATO summit in Vilnius last summer.

The EU welcomed Erdoğan’s proposal, but a scathing report angered Ankara, and Erdoğan has stated that they might reconsider the accession bid.

Today, ties are more transactional than a path toward partnership, even if neither side will openly admit this.

For many EU member states, the long-stalled accession talks are dead in all but name.

In September, Austria, long opposed to Türkiye’s membership, even called for the process to end. EU officials privately say this would be more honest, but no one wants to make the first move.

After the Turkish elections in May, EU leaders revived hopes for improvement. They ordered the EU’s executive arm and its foreign policy chief to prepare a report on how to develop the relationship.

The report is due before December’s next summit gathering of EU leaders, but experts and EU officials warn against expecting any real improvement in ties.

There is “Turkish fatigue” in Europe, as Austria’s comments show, said the European Parliament’s Türkiye rapporteur, Nacho Sanchez Amor.

“We are tired of keeping the accession process alive when, apparently, there is no real political will from the other side to advance on democratic standards,” the MEP said.

Amor was behind what Türkiye called a “one-sided, nonobjective” report by the European Parliament that dealt a blow to relations.

The Turkish-EU relationship’s transactional nature deepened after the two sides agreed on a deal in 2016 under which the EU threw billions of euros at Ankara to stop migrants coming to Europe after the 2015 refugee crisis.

“Transactional is not a derogatory term,” Amor said. “Don’t mix the accession process, which has its own rules based on values and principles, with the rest of the relationship.”

The report due later this year will likely recommend updating the customs union, for which Türkiye’s trade minister was in Brussels in October to drum up support.

Ankara wants equal treatment among candidate countries.

Source: Daily Sabah

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will pay a visit to Berlin on Nov. 16-17 to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as well as President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to discuss the latest developments regarding the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The leaders will discuss “the entire range of political issues” during a meeting at the chancellery on Friday evening, a German government spokesperson said.

It would be Erdoğan’s first visit to Germany since 2020. Some 3 million people with Turkish roots live in Germany.

Erdoğan’s accusations against Israel have stoked fresh tensions with the European Union.

Indicating that Western countries, which constantly talk about human rights and freedoms and democracy, are watching Israel’s massacres from afar, Erdoğan on Tuesday said: “These countries and organizations are so helpless that they cannot even call for a cease-fire, let alone criticize child murderers. Seventy-three percent of the nearly 11,000 Gazans brutally killed by Israel are women and children.”

Scholz said on Friday that the German government will continue its diplomatic efforts to prevent the Gaza war from turning into a major regional conflict.

“Together with the U.S., our European allies and our partners in the region, we are doing everything we can diplomatically to prevent this from becoming a conflagration,” he said at a military conference in Berlin.

The German government says it bears historical responsibility for the security of Israel due to the country’s Nazi past and crimes committed against Jews.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is beginning her Middle East tour on Friday as part of Berlin’s diplomatic efforts to stop further escalation of the crisis.

The conflict escalated dramatically after Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct. 7 by firing thousands of rockets and sending hundreds of its members into Israeli towns.

Israel responded by an uninterrupted campaign of air and artillery strikes on Gaza and recently expanded its ground operations to root out Hamas. Civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and refugee camps, were also targeted by the Israeli forces.

At least 10,812 Palestinians, including 4,412 children and 2,918 women, have been killed so far, according to health authorities.

Source: Daily Sabah

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Visa rejection remains a thorny issue between Türkiye and the European Union as the country’s top diplomat noted a surge in rates and explained efforts to resolve the issue

Answering questions from opposition lawmakers, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that the rate of rejected visa applications submitted by Turkish citizens has increased in European Union countries. “We repeatedly conveyed our expectations for a fast solution to the problems and sent diplomatic notes as well,” Fidan said in written statements to lawmakers from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), according to the media reports.

The lengthy processing times and a significant increase in rejection rates of Turks’ applications for visas to the 27 Schengen countries have disrupted travel and business plans, and angered Ankara, which denounced it as a deliberate effort and “political blackmail.”

Türkiye has been an official candidate to join the European Union for 24 years, but accession talks have stalled in recent years over a number of disagreements and political roadblocks. Türkiye suggests it has fulfilled most of the criteria for membership.

Though the accession process stalled, Türkiye has remained a key economic and defense partner for the 27-member bloc.

Türkiye launched a “visa liberalization dialogue” with the European Union in December 2013. Fidan told lawmakers that Türkiye fulfilled 66 of 72 criteria in the visa liberalization road map and was working to fulfill the remaining criteria and for their sustainability. “We share our expectations with the EU,” he said.

Fidan said Schengen visa rejection rates were around 4% between 2014 and 2016, according to data by the EU Commission and after 2016, it started increasing every year and reached to 17% in 2021. He, however, noted a drop to 15.7% in 2022. Fidan said they invited ambassadors of several EU countries with high rejection rates to the ministry and voiced Türkiye’s demands and expectations on the issue.

The dialogue on visa liberalization aims to eliminate the requirement for Turkish citizens to obtain visas for short-term touristic, business or family-related visits (90-180 days) to all EU member states except Ireland and the Schengen countries Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Norway.

The said dialogue, launched simultaneously with the Türkiye-EU Readmission Agreement on Dec. 16, 2013, was carried out per a road map containing criteria under five main groups.

The rules document security in terms of preparation of passports in accordance with EU standards, biometric passports, ensuring the security of passports, identity cards and other similar documents, migration management ensuring adequate control and surveillance at the borders, international protection and EU transactions related to foreigners.

They also include public order and security in terms of fighting and preventing organized crime, terrorism and corruption. In this context, harmonization with the EU acquis on the financing of terrorism, human trafficking and cybercrimes, judicial cooperation in criminal matters, protection of personal data, the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, non-discrimination, access to travel and identity documents, and access to identity documents of refugees and stateless persons and readmission of irregular migrants were also topics on the agenda.

The six terms, namely the review of the Anti-Terror Law and the Penal Code, compliance of the Personal Data Protection Law and its institution with EU standards, making a judicial cooperation agreement with all member states, fully fulfilling the obligations arising from the readmission agreement, signing an operational cooperation agreement with EUROPOL and the approval of laws fulfilling the Council of Europe’s GRECO recommendations, have still not been met.

Since the start of the summer, Ankara and the bloc have been working to rekindle ties, which for many years operated not toward mutual trust and strategic goals but only out of necessity.

Türkiye has the most extended history with the union and the most prolonged accession process, which only officially started in 2005 despite the first agreement being signed with the EU’s predecessor the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1964. Since then, the process has been essentially frozen due to political roadblocks by certain EU members, including Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, for reasons unrelated to membership criteria, according to Ankara.

After the presidential and parliamentary elections concluded in May, Brussels shifted its rhetoric from “the importance of cooperation with Türkiye” to “continuing relations on a strategic and forward-looking basis.”

Source: Daily Sabah

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