European Foreign Ministers decided on Monday 13 July to reflect on ways to improve relations with Turkey, while continuing to prepare additional measures against the country.
At the end of the EU Council, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, announced that he had received “broad support to further explore possible ways to ease tensions and reach agreement” on subjects creating tension.
On the other hand, Mr Borrell explained that he would prepare “options” on further measures the EU could take to respond “to the challenges it faces as a result of Turkey’s actions”. At the request of Cyprus, work to add persons or entities to the list of sanctions related to illegal Turkish drilling activities in the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus will continue, he added.
Ministers will return to the subject at the Gymnich, scheduled for 27-28 August in Berlin.
Recalling that Turkey was an “important” country for the EU, the High Representative stressed that the relationship was “strained”. “We would like to have a stronger relationship, but this must be in line with the values, principles and interests of the EU”, he warned.
And before the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, the head of German diplomacy, Heiko Maas, said that all Member States agreed to continue the dialogue with Ankara, “because of its strategic importance”. “We want to continue a dialogue, but Turkey only talks about customs union or visa liberalisation. There is no reason to think that we could make progress on these issues”, he warned.
In front of the media, Mr Borrell did not mask the difficulties either. “There are several serious issues that need to be addressed by Turkey in order to change the current dynamics of confrontation and create an environment of trust”, he explained, adding that Ankara’s unilateral actions, especially in the eastern Mediterranean, were against the EU’s interests, the sovereign rights of Member States and international law, and this had to stop.
He also called on Turkey to contribute “actively” to a political solution in Libya and to fully respect the commitments made in the Berlin process, including compliance with the arms embargo on Libya.
Finally, the last subject creating tension to date: the decision on the former Basilica of Hagia Sophia. “The EU Council condemns the decision to convert Hagia Sophia, such an emblematic place, into a mosque”, announced Mr Borrell, who called on Turkey to reverse this decision which will “inevitably fuel mistrust, promote new divisions between religious communities and undermine our efforts on dialogue and cooperation”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)