The EU, Turkey and Greece’s interests

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the Turkish Defense Industry Summit successful Ankara, Turkey, connected December 12, 2018. [Cem Oksuz/Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters]

Turkey is among the third countries the European Union will collaborate with successful implementing its caller financing mechanics of defence projects (SAFE). This means that Turkey is allowed to enactment successful EU procurement contracts. Defense components to beryllium constructed successful that state are not to beryllium higher than 35% of the estimated outgo of the European end-product.

In substance, the EU acknowledges the value of the Turkish defence concern basal and seeks to physique synergies with Turkey contempt existing problems successful the bilateral partnership.

The precocious approved SAFE mechanics is not paired with a wide argumentation doctrine astir its aboriginal direction, however. In the lawsuit of the Ukraine war, for example, the EU is lacking a specific strategy astir its aboriginal outcome. The EU is anxious to support Ukraine but lone to a grade that this beryllium mightiness somewhat acceptable by the Kremlin. Also, it disagrees with the idiosyncratic diplomacy of President Donald Trump successful approaching his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin but fails to sermon realistic conditions under which the war could possibly end. It is frankincense locked successful a labyrinth where some the continuation of the war and its termination look achy and alternatively expects the effect of the American mediation.

Critics mightiness adjacent reason that the EU has go irrelevant.

Within this context, the EU has approved Turkey’s information successful the SAFE mechanics but has not discussed the implications of its approval. The pitfalls are acrophobic with the aboriginal behaviour of muscular Turkish overseas argumentation successful the Eastern Mediterranean astatine the disbursal of Greece and the Republic of Cyprus. It is so the work of the EU to spell beyond the elemental determination of providing fiscal assistance to Turkey for the operation of missiles and ammunition into the improvement of a strategic thinking successful the spirit of safeguarding determination bid and peace. 

There is an accidental up that tin accommodate the interests of each sides involved, the EU connected the whole, Turkey, Greece and the Republic of Cyprus. No 1 would disagree that an overhaul successful EU-Turkey relations is necessary. To employment an a la carte attack mightiness solve problems temporarily but falls abbreviated of a semipermanent vision.

It is present clip for the European diplomacy to work connected the organization recalibration of the EU-Turkey concern alternatively of procrastinating due to the fact that of different priorities.

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Dr George N. Tzogopoulos is simply a lecturer astatine the European Institute of Nice (Cife) and a elder chap astatine the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and astatine the Begin-Sadat Center of Strategic Studies.