The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Saturday 9 January that she had had a “good exchange” with the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during a videoconference.
“We exchanged views on the Covid-19 situation, the economic recovery and the implementation of tasking of the European Council of December 2020” (see EUROPE 12620/2), she explained on her Twitter account. In December, the European Council had decided, in particular, to adopt additional sanctions in relation to illegal drilling in the Mediterranean (work is progressing at a technical level) and asked the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, to report by March at the latest on the state of play in the Eastern Mediterranean and on political, economic and trade relations with Turkey.
A statement by the Turkish Presidency, for its part, mentions discussions on measures to strengthen relations between Turkey and the EU and regional developments.
According to the spokesman for the European External Action Service, Peter Stano, the videoconference is “part of the outreach (of the EU towards Turkey) to convey the message: need to deescalate [the controversy] and make practical steps in order to move us on this road of renewal of constructive cooperation and dialogue”.
To continue the discussion, on 21 January, Mr Borrell will welcome the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, to Brussels. “We stand ready to continue working on dialogue with Turkey. I look forward to welcoming Mr Çavuşoğlu to pursue the tasking received by leaders at the European Council”, he explained in a tweet published after the video conference he attended. Mr Çavuşoğlu said he was looking forward to coming to Brussels “for a sincere and result-oriented dialogue”.
New year, new relationships?
According to the Turkish Presidency communiqué, Mr Erdoğan said the EU was a priority for his country and that its future lay in Europe. He explained that Turkey wants to turn a new page in its relations with the EU in 2021.
According to Mr Erdoğan, the most important tool that could be used as a first step for a positive agenda in the relations would be updating the agreement of 18 March 2016, believing that “2021 offers a productive atmosphere in terms of new cooperation to be built in the field of migration”. Updating of the Customs Union, visa liberalisation, and measures relating to EU accession negotiations are also cited. President Erdoğan also considered it “useful” to relaunch the regular Turkey-EU summits and dialogue meetings.
Furthermore, according to Mr Çavuşoğlu, Turkey made an official offer to Greece to start exploratory discussions in January. The EU has called for such discussions. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)