Brussels, 26/08/2009 (Agence Europe) - The newly appointed NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, hopes to overcome one of the main obstacles to cooperation with the EU, namely Turkish opposition to military cooperation between the Alliance and the Union. Mr Rasmussen, who has held the post since early August, was in Athens on 26 August and will be in Ankara on 27 August for discussion with the heads of state of both countries.
“It is my intention to raise the question of better cooperation between Turkey and Greece during my visit”, the secretary general said in his on-line blog. Rasmussen acknowledges the “bilateral” nature of the problem but stresses that “we have come to the point where it is causing us problems in our missions”. He above all points to the fact that it is currently impossible to seal an agreement for NATO troop support for EU-led police training operations in Afghanistan. Rasmussen adds that the EU and NATO's counter-piracy maritime operations off the Horn of Africa are being conducted with “no agreement on who will do what or how to support each other”.
Turkey refuses close participation by NATO in EU security operations. Its dispute with Greece over Cyprus makes Ankara reticent about sharing military information with an organisation - i.e. the European Union - that treats the whole island as an EU member state. The effect that this problem has on NATO activities has been described as “negative”, if not “perverse”, by the NATO spokesman. In his video blog, the secretary general underlines that “these problems have spread far beyond Turkey and Greece”. Mr Rasmussesn, as the spokesman put it, “intends to focus on these issues during his tenure”. The spokesman went on to point out that it is not up to NATO to negotiate directly with the Cypriot authorities as the island is neither an ally nor a partner of the organisation. (C.D./transl.jl)