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BrusselsThe Europeans showed solidarity with Greece and Cyprus in the face of Ankara with the launch of the European Union summit after the escalation of tension in the Mediterranean.
Upon his arrival at the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron warned that “solidarity with Greece and Cyprus is not negotiable.” “When a member state of the European Union is attacked, when its territorial waters are not respected, it is the duty of Europeans to show their solidarity.”
For his part, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed that “the time has come for Europe to bravely and frankly discuss the kind of relationship it really wants with Turkey.” The official considered that “Turkey’s provocations can no longer be tolerated.”
As for the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, he only confirmed the existence of “several options on the table”, in the hint of imposing sanctions on Turkey.
On the other hand, German Chancellor Angela Merkel considered that “the European Union is interested in developing a constructive relationship with Turkey, despite all the difficulties.”
In light of growing European criticism of Ankara’s transgressions, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Europeans “pawns” of the Greeks and Cypriots, and assured the Turkish Parliament that he is “determined to keep the channels open. dialogue “.
In a show of desire for appeasement, a NATO agreement was reached between Greece and Turkey on Thursday on a conflict avoidance mechanism.
Members of the European Union are using the carrot and stick policy. They must not undermine the dialogue that Athens and Ankara promised to resume after German mediation, but they must also show firmness towards Turkey.
The Turkish regime insists that it has rights to the riches of the eastern Mediterranean and that it will defend them with all its might, which contradicts the opinion of most European Union countries, whose leaders urged Turkey to stop the escalation while threatening with imposing sanctions.
European leaders also discussed escalation in the Nagorno Qara region, despite calls for a ceasefire. The internationalization of the conflict threatens to destabilize a region in which powers such as Russia and Turkey compete.
Emmanuel Macron confirmed that he had information about the deployment of “Syrian fighters of jihadist groups”, which is a “very dangerous matter that changes the data” in the region inhabited by the majority of Armenians, which separated from Azerbaijan with the fall of the Soviet Union, which launched a war in the early 1990s that left 30,000 dead.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and media reports indicated that Turkey had transferred elements of the Syrian armed opposition factions to Azerbaijan in the context of the military escalation with Armenia.
The observatory said that “a group of fighters from Syrian factions loyal to Ankara arrived in Azerbaijan, where the Turkish government transferred them from their lands to that place.”
Armenian activists distributed a video clip documenting the massive movement of militants chanting slogans in Arabic on board vehicles, said to be targeting the battle fronts in Azerbaijan against Armenian forces.
The Russian news agency Interfax quoted the Armenian ambassador in Moscow that “Turkey has sent around 4,000 fighters from northern Syria to Azerbaijan” and that they are participating in the fighting.
Sources from the Syrian opposition factions were quoted as saying that “Turkey has provided each fighter who transports him to Azerbaijan a monthly salary of $ 1500.”
Despite Azerbaijan’s denial, according to its president’s assistant, that Turkey has sent Syrian fighters to their country, observers did not rule this out in light of the Turkish position, which immediately after the outbreak of clashes last Sunday revealed his support for Azerbaijan and condemned what he called “provocations” directed against Baku.
