By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL-Turkish President Erdogan used his time at the European Political Community, EPC summit in Prague, recently, to meet world leaders and strengthen bilateral relations with a number of countries -most notably, Armenia. The inaugural summit is comprised of a new regional group of 44 European countries whose purpose is to seek strategies to resolve major challenges that include energy, migration, security and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It was French President Emmanuel Macron who first proposed the concept that includes all 27 EU members with 17 other nations, some seeking EU membership. Macron commented that the purpose of such a summit is to create “a strategic closeness” while finding common solutions to the most pressing issues and seeking mutual projects to collaborate on. Macron was closely supported in forming the summit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who commented that the summit sends a strong message to Russia’s President Putin. As Scholz said: “It is very visible that all of us who are meeting here know that the Russian attack on Ukraine is a brutal violation of the security and peace that we have had in Europe over the last decades. And therefore, it is important that we reject this attack.”
The summit gave leaders an opportunity to meet with respective countries on the sidelines to discuss pressing regional issues while also attending a series of meetings focusing on current challenges Europe and other nations face, including global security, energy, climate, economy and migration. Turkish President Erdogan met in bilateral meetings with French President Macron, President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Accompanying Erdogan were Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Presidential Advisor Ibrahim Kalin, Communications Directorate Chief Fahrettin Altun and Special Envoy for normalization with Armenia, Serdar Kilic. Erdogan’s summit meetings are expected to open a new chapter between Turkiye and Armenia where there is hope both countries will sign an agreement, providing Armenia and Azerbaijan resolve their differences, Erdogan commented at the summit.
Meanwhile, the Turkish leader accused Greece of basing its policies on what he termed as “lies.” Erdogan said there was nothing worth discussing with Greece right now and made a stern warning that his government may retaliate against Greek violations of its territory in the Mediterranean. Greek leaders said “Greece is not closing the door to dialogue.” They added, “we are sure that we have international law on our side.” Erdogan further stated that his country’s purpose is not to take other countries’ territories and their legitimate rights nor does it want to see tension with its neighbors. The Turkish president said: “We are just fighting to protect Turkiye’s and Turkish Cypriots’ rights and interests.” In the last several years, both countries experienced an escalation of hostilities in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean as a result of Greece’s territorial claims in the region that Turkiye finds unacceptable. Erdogan said: “We clearly stated that we want to settle our disputes for once and for all, regarding Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean seas within the framework of international law.”
