Brussels, 25/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 24 November, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini called for any escalation in tension between Russia and Turkey to be avoided after a Russian plane entered Turkish air space and was shot down by Turkish fighter planes earlier in the day.
During an informal press conference in Strasbourg, Mogherini said that she had talked to Turkey's foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu “to send the message that efforts should be made to avoid further tension”. She added that new measures must be avoided that could lead to an escalation.
Mogherini said that it was very important “to preserve the political area we have been forced to create to start a transition in Syria”. Both Russia and Turkey are taking part in the political meetings in Vienna. “We must preserve this process because it is the best basis that we have for launching the transition in Damascus and for countering IS effectively and conquering it on the ground”, she said. She insisted on the fight against IS. “I think that everyone well understands today, particularly Europe, that our priority is the fight against terrorism and IS. We need international unity for that”, she added.
During a phone conversation with Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday 25 November (whom she is due to meet next week), Mogherini underlined “the importance of uniting forces in the fight against IS, and of coordinating our efforts”.
The same day, the Russian ambassador in Paris announced that his country was ready to constitute a common headquarters with France, the US and all the countries that so wish, including Turkey, to plan strikes together on IS positions. However, at a joint press conference with France's president François Hollande the previous day, US president Barack Obama had been more wary as to the possibility of cooperating with Russia, saying that until there were strategic changes from Russia's president Vladimir Putin, cooperation would be very difficult. Hollande is visiting Moscow on Thursday 26 November to discuss the fight against IS with Putin.
The leader of the European Parliament's ALDE Group, Guy Verhofstadt, called at the Parliament for a debate on terrorism, so that France's request to activate Article 42.7 (see EUROPE 11432) might lead to the successful creation of a real European coalition in the fight against terrorism and IS. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)