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No, it is not about children and iPads, but about the extraordinary EU summit on the serious conflict with Turkey, which is making noise with weapons against Greece and Cyprus.
It is a fragmented gathering of EU leaders gathered on Thursday to find a way out of the Mediterranean crisis.
Greece, Cyprus and France want to fight hard. Cyprus has even opposed the sanctions against Belarus and demands that the EU first impose sanctions on Turkey.
Seems pointless
But Germany’s heavyweight, on the other hand, strongly believes in dialogue with Turkey. “We must balance our relations with great caution and focus on cooperation,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said before the meeting, praising Turkey’s efforts on the refugee issue.
Ahead of the EU summit, Ankara has demanded that Turkey want a renewed customs union, more money for the refugee agreement and visa-free travel to EU countries for Turkish citizens.
These are high demands, probably unrealistic. But the question is what the EU can offer Turkey to quell the menacing arms race with warships and acute military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey’s foreign policy behavior may seem absurd, but in many cases it follows a fairly familiar pattern. Ankara first puts on a heavenly life and then sits at the negotiating table and tries to turn the turmoil into diplomatic achievements.
That method has worked quite well for Turkey, for example, on the issue of refugees and the military attack on Kurdish forces in northern Syria.
EU pressed to use cane
President Erdogan’s goal in the Mediterranean is for Turkey to be allowed to share the cake of gas deposits. Turkey is currently isolated by Egypt, Israel, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Jordan and Palestine, who have created a kind of club to jointly mint the natural resources of the seabed.
Turkey and Greece recently agreed to start negotiations on the maritime border dispute. The EU summit is an opportunity for Ankara to exert indirect pressure on the Greek side to make concessions.
It certainly seems tempting for the EU to try to solve the whole problem by throwing a meat bone at Ankara, so big that Turkey can get away with it.
At the same time, the EU is under pressure to also use cane, at least symbolically, so that Greece and Cyprus are not overwhelmed.
As if that was not difficult enough, the issue is further complicated by Turkey’s involvement in the bloody conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Those who want to take a hard line against Turkey get water in their mill. But in the end, the German line on dialogue will most likely remain firmer when it comes to the crisis.
