03-27-2018, 10:36 PM
*** 28-Mar-18 World View -- Tense Turkey-EU summit in Bulgaria once again ends in failure
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Tense Turkey-EU summit in Bulgaria once again ends in failure
****
![[Image: g180327b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180327b.jpg)
After a tense meeting that accomplished nothing, the EU and Turkish leaders posed for a silly photo opportunity where they pretend to be friends. From left to right: Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, European Council President Donald Tusk, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and European Commission President Jean-Claude Jüncker
Tensions between the European Union and Turkey have been tense in the
last year, including EU referring to Turkey's president Recep Tayyip
Erdogan as a "dictator," and Erdogan comparing the Dutch and German
governments to the Nazis.
So there was a summit meeting on Monday in Varna, Bulgaria, attended
by Erdogan, European Council President Donald Tusk, European
Commission President Jean-Claude Jüncker, as well as Bulgaria's Prime
Minister Boyko Borissov. The purpose of the meeting was to mend
relations between Turkey and the EU.
There was a lot of angry rhetoric, and there were whole lists of
issues on both sides that were left unresolved. However, neither side
wanted to risk a total breakdown on relations, so they agreed to
continue the EU-Turkey refugee deal, at least in part:
Erdogan has repeatedly expressed fury in particular that the visa-free
travel has not been permitted. RTE (Ireland)
and EU Observer and
Reuters and Kathimerini (Athens)
****
**** Other unresolved issues from the EU-Turkey summit meeting
****
At the conclusion of Monday's summit meeting, European Council
president Donald Tusk said:
<QUOTE>"If you are asking me if we achieved some solutions or
compromises, my answer is no. What I can say that is that I raised
all our concerns, as you know it was a long list."<END QUOTE>
EU accession continues to be a major point of hostility -- the process
of allowing Turkey to become a member of the European Union. There
have been talks since 2005, but there has been enormous hostility on
both sides historically rooted from the time when Turkey's Ottoman
Empire and European nations were at war. The talks were frozen
completely following the failed coup in July, 2016.
The most recent major new disagreement occurred two weeks ago, when
Turkey sent warships to block gas and oil exploration in Cyprus’
Exclusive Economic Zone.
Cyprus has been bitterly divided since a 1974 war, with Greek Orthodox
Christian Greeks governing the south, and Muslim Turks governing the
north. The two sides are partitioned by a "no-man's land," a strip
that stretches 112 miles across the entire island. Today, it's only
the Greek government of Cyprus that is recognized by the EU, and is a
member of the EU.
Turkey has condemned actions by the Greek Cyprus government to drill
for oil and gas without an agreement that Turkey should receive a
share of the revenue.
In February, Turkish warships blocked an Italian company that was
scheduled to drill in Cyprus's territorial waters. Turkey said it
would prevent any further drilling off Cyprus without the direct
involvement of the Turkish Cypriots.
EU leaders made clear that the EU was in solidarity with Cyprus, and
that it was necessary for Turkey to improve its relations with both
Greece and Cyprus.
Another recent disagreement is related to the war in Syria, and to
Turkey's Operation Olive Branch, whose purpose is to take control of
Syria's northern border city of Afrin. The message from the EU has
been mixed. Afrin was controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection
Units (YPG), which is linked to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK). The PKK has conducted numerous violent terrorist acts on
Turkish soil, and is recognized as a terrorist group by the United
States and the EU. So the mixed message from the EU in recent days
was "you have a right to protect your border, but don't go too far in
killing or displacing civilians." EU officials are giving the Afrin
operation as another reason for a delay in further accession talks.
However, with regard to the military operation in Afrin, Erdogan said
he expects the EU’s support in dealing with terrorists. Erdogan
said:
<QUOTE>"It would be a grave mistake for Europe, which claims
to be a global force, to push Turkey out of its expansion policy.
Our operations against terrorism not only contribute to the
security of ourselves and the Syrians but also to the security of
Europe.
We now expect strong support [from Europe] on sensitive issues
such as the fight against terrorism instead of rambling and unjust
criticism.
I hope that we together have taken the first step of restoring
confidence between the EU and us [Turkey] today, but it is not
enough to say that we took this step; it has to be taken in
concrete terms.
We hope that we have left a difficult period in Turkey-EU
relations behind."<END QUOTE>
Other issues raised by the European Union include concerns about the
rule of law in Turkey, the mass jailing of journalists, and the
jailing of two Greek soldiers who accidentally crossed the border from
Greece into Turkey.
With regard to the Greek soldiers, European Commission president
Jean-Claude Jüncker said that they should be released from jail before
the Greek Orthodox Easter on April 8. (The Catholic Easter this year
is on April 1.) To Vima (Athens) and AP (22-Mar) and Cyprus Mail and EU Observer and Hurriyet (Ankara)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, European Union, Bulgaria, Boyko Borissov,
European Council, Donald Tusk, Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan,
European Commission, Jean-Claude Jüncker,
Cyprus, Italy, Greece, Syria, Operation Olive Branch, Afrin
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Tense Turkey-EU summit in Bulgaria once again ends in failure
- Other unresolved issues from the EU-Turkey summit meeting
****
**** Tense Turkey-EU summit in Bulgaria once again ends in failure
****
After a tense meeting that accomplished nothing, the EU and Turkish leaders posed for a silly photo opportunity where they pretend to be friends. From left to right: Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, European Council President Donald Tusk, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and European Commission President Jean-Claude Jüncker
Tensions between the European Union and Turkey have been tense in the
last year, including EU referring to Turkey's president Recep Tayyip
Erdogan as a "dictator," and Erdogan comparing the Dutch and German
governments to the Nazis.
So there was a summit meeting on Monday in Varna, Bulgaria, attended
by Erdogan, European Council President Donald Tusk, European
Commission President Jean-Claude Jüncker, as well as Bulgaria's Prime
Minister Boyko Borissov. The purpose of the meeting was to mend
relations between Turkey and the EU.
There was a lot of angry rhetoric, and there were whole lists of
issues on both sides that were left unresolved. However, neither side
wanted to risk a total breakdown on relations, so they agreed to
continue the EU-Turkey refugee deal, at least in part:
- To control the flow of migrants from Turkey to Greece, across
the Aegean Sea, the agreement specified that Turkey would patrol its
Aegean Sea beaches and prevent migrants from leaving shore. Turkey's
actions reduced the flow of migrants from millions in 2015 to hundreds
of thousands in 2017.
- The EU had promised to provide €6 billion to Turkey, for
humanitarian assistance to Syrian migrants living in Turkey, in two
separate €3 billion payments. However, only €1.8 billion
has been provided so far, and Erdogan is demanding that the EU fulfill
its promise.
- Visa liberalization: The EU promised to allow all citizens of
Turkey to have visa-free travel throughout Europe's Schengen zone by
the end of June 2016. The EU has never fulfilled this
promise.
Erdogan has repeatedly expressed fury in particular that the visa-free
travel has not been permitted. RTE (Ireland)
and EU Observer and
Reuters and Kathimerini (Athens)
****
**** Other unresolved issues from the EU-Turkey summit meeting
****
At the conclusion of Monday's summit meeting, European Council
president Donald Tusk said:
<QUOTE>"If you are asking me if we achieved some solutions or
compromises, my answer is no. What I can say that is that I raised
all our concerns, as you know it was a long list."<END QUOTE>
EU accession continues to be a major point of hostility -- the process
of allowing Turkey to become a member of the European Union. There
have been talks since 2005, but there has been enormous hostility on
both sides historically rooted from the time when Turkey's Ottoman
Empire and European nations were at war. The talks were frozen
completely following the failed coup in July, 2016.
The most recent major new disagreement occurred two weeks ago, when
Turkey sent warships to block gas and oil exploration in Cyprus’
Exclusive Economic Zone.
Cyprus has been bitterly divided since a 1974 war, with Greek Orthodox
Christian Greeks governing the south, and Muslim Turks governing the
north. The two sides are partitioned by a "no-man's land," a strip
that stretches 112 miles across the entire island. Today, it's only
the Greek government of Cyprus that is recognized by the EU, and is a
member of the EU.
Turkey has condemned actions by the Greek Cyprus government to drill
for oil and gas without an agreement that Turkey should receive a
share of the revenue.
In February, Turkish warships blocked an Italian company that was
scheduled to drill in Cyprus's territorial waters. Turkey said it
would prevent any further drilling off Cyprus without the direct
involvement of the Turkish Cypriots.
EU leaders made clear that the EU was in solidarity with Cyprus, and
that it was necessary for Turkey to improve its relations with both
Greece and Cyprus.
Another recent disagreement is related to the war in Syria, and to
Turkey's Operation Olive Branch, whose purpose is to take control of
Syria's northern border city of Afrin. The message from the EU has
been mixed. Afrin was controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection
Units (YPG), which is linked to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK). The PKK has conducted numerous violent terrorist acts on
Turkish soil, and is recognized as a terrorist group by the United
States and the EU. So the mixed message from the EU in recent days
was "you have a right to protect your border, but don't go too far in
killing or displacing civilians." EU officials are giving the Afrin
operation as another reason for a delay in further accession talks.
However, with regard to the military operation in Afrin, Erdogan said
he expects the EU’s support in dealing with terrorists. Erdogan
said:
<QUOTE>"It would be a grave mistake for Europe, which claims
to be a global force, to push Turkey out of its expansion policy.
Our operations against terrorism not only contribute to the
security of ourselves and the Syrians but also to the security of
Europe.
We now expect strong support [from Europe] on sensitive issues
such as the fight against terrorism instead of rambling and unjust
criticism.
I hope that we together have taken the first step of restoring
confidence between the EU and us [Turkey] today, but it is not
enough to say that we took this step; it has to be taken in
concrete terms.
We hope that we have left a difficult period in Turkey-EU
relations behind."<END QUOTE>
Other issues raised by the European Union include concerns about the
rule of law in Turkey, the mass jailing of journalists, and the
jailing of two Greek soldiers who accidentally crossed the border from
Greece into Turkey.
With regard to the Greek soldiers, European Commission president
Jean-Claude Jüncker said that they should be released from jail before
the Greek Orthodox Easter on April 8. (The Catholic Easter this year
is on April 1.) To Vima (Athens) and AP (22-Mar) and Cyprus Mail and EU Observer and Hurriyet (Ankara)
Related Articles
- Peace conference to reunite Cyprus adjourns without a deal (13-Jan-2017)
- Despite growing migration crises, European Union bitterly divided over policy (15-Dec-2017)
- Concerns grow of humanitarian disaster in Afrin, Syria, as Turkey's forces enter (16-Mar-2018)
- A new terrorist bombing (by PKK) in Istanbul Turkey kills dozens (11-Dec-2016)
- Turkey's president Erdogan visits Greece with a list of contentious demands (08-Dec-2017)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, European Union, Bulgaria, Boyko Borissov,
European Council, Donald Tusk, Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan,
European Commission, Jean-Claude Jüncker,
Cyprus, Italy, Greece, Syria, Operation Olive Branch, Afrin
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
