Turkey's foreign minister travels to Brussels to try to bring the two sides closer together
The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlet Cavusoglu, is visiting the European capital these days to hold a series of meetings to confirm President Erdogan's desire to return to the path of good relations with both the EU bloc and NATO.
In recent months, the Eastern Mediterranean region has become a focus of tension not only with the European countries there, such as Greece and Cyprus, with which disagreements are more common, but also with others with which they are not, such as France and Germany. Turkish interference in the Libyan conflict, over which there is a European mission to ensure compliance with the arms embargo, has led to several clashes between the Turkish navy and the French and German navies. Since then, the rhetoric between the Turkish leader and the French president has escalated, causing a major problem within NATO and, to a lesser extent, the European Union.
Moreover, tension between Greece and Turkey has also been growing over the past 2020, due to Turkish interests in accessing areas where hydrocarbons are accumulating, but which are in waters that Greece and Cyprus consider their own and which Turkey disputes. Both Greece and France led the call for sanctions against the Erdogan regime at the EUCO in December.
The serious situation facing Turkey's economy has forced Erdogan to backtrack and put aside the frenetic rhetoric of recent months in order to seek a return to normality in relations with the European Union. To demonstrate this willingness, the Turkish Foreign Minister will meet this Thursday with the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, with whom he will discuss the situation in the eastern Mediterranean, among other issues.
Josep Borrell said that they have seen "an improvement in the atmosphere in general", but that they "remain concerned about the human rights situation in Turkey". Other European leaders have commented that the European Union is not going to let itself be carried away by Erdogan's words, and expects concrete facts that show the intention to de-escalate the situation in the eastern Mediterranean.
European leaders will meet again in March, when Josep Borrell is expected to present a report on political, economic and trade relations between the EU bloc and Turkey, as the EU is prepared to take a hard line with the country if it continues with its excesses despite the sanctions imposed in December. Erdogan will therefore try to show his willingness to resume good relations between Ankara and Brussels, and to ensure that the report is as favourable as possible and avoids further actions affecting Turkish nationals and companies. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas visited Ankara earlier this week to confirm Erdogan's intention to iron out the differences with the EU.
Cavusoglu, who will spend several days in the European capital, will also meet on Friday with the President of the European Council, the Belgian Charles Michel, who will take the pulse of Turkey's intentions with a view to the March summit at which the extension of sanctions must be decided by European leaders and where Macron's position in this regard will be key.
The Turkish foreign minister will also meet with the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance on Friday. Turkey is an important NATO partner, not only because of the size of its armed forces, but also because of its geostrategic position. However, friction with its allies - mainly Greece and France - has meant that NATO has had to investigate the clashes in the Mediterranean, without, despite French complaints, imposing any sanctions on Turkey. However, the clash did lead to the withdrawal of French ships from the Sea Guardian operation in the Mediterranean, so Turkey's attitude is affecting NATO, and is something that will be discussed between Stoltenberg and Cavusglu.