Ankara’s role is essential to control the gateway from the Middle East to the EU, expert tells Arab News
ANKARA: Turkey and the EU will reportedly boost cooperation on “issues related to regional dynamics,” according to Federica Mogherini, the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy.
During a press conference before a foreign affairs meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, Mogherini said both parties would discuss ways to improve coordination on Syria and Iraq, as well as on counter-terrorism.
The EU foreign policy chief revealed she had spoken to Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu earlier that day to discuss these matters, as well as the “Kurdish issue.”
Both Turkey and the EU have designated the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as a terrorist organization, but Ankara continues to voice its displeasure that some EU member countries allow pro-PKK rallies to take place. Turkey has called for the EU to cut off the PKK’s cash flow in Europe.
The EU, meanwhile, has been heavily critical of Turkey’s own anti-terrorism laws, claiming they do not respect international human rights legislation.
Cigdem Nas, secretary-general of the Economic Development Foundation in Istanbul, said that EU membership talks with Turkey are not progressing, so the EU intends to develop a different kind of partnership with Turkey.
“Within such a partnership, security and foreign policy emerge as the priority areas for cooperation, along with migration and refugee issues,” Nas told Arab News. “These are all areas in which the EU — reflecting a pragmatic and interest-based approach — relies on Turkey’s cooperation.
“Keeping in mind the problem foreign fighters caused in Europe, regarding the increase in acts of terrorism, Turkey’s cooperation is essential to control the gateway from the Middle East to the EU,” she added.
“With Turkey’s increased involvement in the Syria and Iraqi conflict and the (simultaneous) sidelining of the EU from the issue, relatively speaking, the EU now attaches greater importance to strategic cooperation with Turkey,” Nas continued.
Nas cited the changing relationship between Europe and the US, characterized by the Trump administration’s demands that its European partners assume more responsibility for their own defense, as one reason why cooperation with countries such as Turkey – which lie on Europe’s boundaries – has taken on greater significance.
“It is noteworthy that the agenda of the European Council meeting to be held on Oct. 19 lists the debate on Turkey under external relations and not under enlargement,” she said. “This choice reflects the approach of the EU to relations with Turkey.”
Kostas Ifantis, associate professor of international relations at Kadir Has University in Istanbul, underlined that, for the EU, controlling the immigration tops its security and political agendas.
“There can be no effective control without the cooperation of Turkey,” Ifantis told Arab News.
However, Ifantis points out, joint counter-terrorism policies can be complicated.
“Intelligence sharing has proven very hard to arrive at because Cyprus is a member of the EU,” he said, referencing the ongoing disagreement between Turkey and Greece over the island.
“Although some intelligence sharing takes place in the context of NATO, the fact that NATO is not very popular in Ankara complicates things further,” Ifantis added.
Nevertheless, Ifantis underlined that both parties need the cooperation of the other to produce a successful counterterrorism strategy in the Middle East.