BERLIN PUSHES FOR GREECE TURKEY DIALOGUE
Berlin pushing Greece,
Turkey dialogue
·
Berlin’s intense efforts to get talks between Athens and Ankara under
way were underlined by Wednesday’s teleconference German Chancellor Angela
Merkel had with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a few hours after one
with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
According to Anadolu,
citing leaks from the Turkish presidency, Erdogan told Merkel he was determined
to protect Ankara’s interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Anadolu further reported
that Erdogan pointed out that the differences in the Eastern Mediterranean can
be resolved through negotiations as long as there is a balanced approach and a
“fair and consistent” attitude of the European states.
Turkish sources also said
that Erdogan had asked Merkel for assurances that this time there would be no
obstacles to the negotiations, which were reportedly given by the German
chancellor.
Berlin appears to be
intensifying its efforts so that exploratory contacts, the forum in which
Athens and Ankara will seek to agree how they can restart the dialogue effort,
begin as soon as possible.
It remains to be seen in
the coming days whether the existing diplomatic triangle, between Mitsotakis’
adviser Eleni Sorani, her counterpart for the German presidency Jan Hecker, and
Ibrahim Kalin, Erdogan’s representative, can lead to a tripartite meeting between
the three countries.
This may be preceded, however, by a telephone conversation (or teleconference)
between Mitsotakis and Erdogan, an eventuality Sourani and Kalin are currently
working for.
This was confirmed on Wednesday by Mitsotakis himself, in an interview in the
context of the Economist conference in Athens, saying that his advisers and
Erdogan’s are in contact and he reckoned that if they continue on the same
course then the two men could speak on the phone.
Mitsotakis said he was ready to launch exploratory contacts “very, very soon,”
saying there is “a window of opportunity” for bilateral contacts.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Mitsotakis talked with Cyprus President Nicos
Anastasiades about the upcoming European Union Summit (September 24-25).
Despite the relative
de-escalation between Athens and Ankara, Nicosia remains on edge after Turkey
this week announced the renewal of drilling by its Yavuz drillship in the
Cypriot continental shelf.
Also on Wednesday, Anastasiades received the president of the European Council,
Charles Michel, whom he briefed about Turkey’s latest navigational advisory, or
navtex.
For his part, Michel said
that he conveyed to Nicosia that EU solidarity must be expressed in deeds, not
words.
It is pathetic that the EU supports Greece and the Greek part of Cyprus in the dispute about prospecting for oil and/or gas in the waters to the North of Cyprus, which normally belong to the Turkish part of Cyprus. This all comes about as a result of Greece's attempt to get Cyprus illegally to become part of Greece, a little while after Cyprus ceased being a British colony and became independent. Turkey sent troops into Cyprus to prevent a Greek take-over, as it was bound to do under the tripartite guarantee of Cyprus' independence. (The other two guarantors, Greece and the United Kingdom did not honour their treaty commitment to defend Cyprus' independence.)
ReplyDeleteTurkey has been ostracised for carrying out its treaty obligations. And the Northern or Turkish part of Cyprus has been punished for wishing to continue to live in its homeland, by being declared to be an illegal or non-existent state.
Now that the United Kingdom, which totally failed to honour its treaty obligations to protect Cyprus' independence at the time when Greece tried to annex it, is about to cease being a member of the European Union, the EU should do the honourable thing and defend Northern Cyprus, including its rights in the adjacent parts of the Northern Mediterranean. It should also guarantee its right to live and trade like any other country …. until the two parts of Cyprus have the good sense to join up again and exist as a normal free country.