LIVE in Brussels: EU debates the role of Turkey in the Eastern-Mediterranean

European Parliament tries to de-escalate dangerous situations in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. https://www.eudebates.tv/debates/eu-policies/enlargement-and-foreign-affairs/eu-calls-turkey-to-end-drilling-in-east-med-immediately/The European Union must "show its teeth" by imposing tough economic sanctions against Turkey, if the country refuses to remove its military vessels and drill ships from waters in the eastern Mediterranean, Greece's European Affairs minister said on Thursday. https://www.eudebates.tv/ #eudebates #Turkey #Dialogue https://www.eudebates.tv/ #heritage #debates #HagiaSophia #Migration #Borrell #Turkey #Ankara #Erdogan
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All eyes on US, Germany, France, Greece and EU meetings over Turkey

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EU calls Turkey to end drilling in East Med immediately. Turkey must respect international law and stop illegal drilling immediately!

Speaking to members of the EU's Foreign Affairs Committee in Brussels, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said Greece was not pursuing a military response to the Turkish aggression.

"That is why we asked our military people, our armed forces to restrain themselves," he said.

Greece and Turkey have faced off against each other in recent weeks as Turkish survey vessels and drill ships continue to prospect for gas in waters where Greece and Cyprus claim exclusive economic rights.

Greek and Turkish armed forces have been conducting military exercises in the area in a show of muscle-flexing to underscore each side’s resolve.

European Union members Greece and Cyprus accuse Turkey of violating international law and of “gunboat diplomacy.”

Tensions in Eastern Mediterranean

Since an extraordinary naval standoff occurred between French and Turkish warships in the Eastern Mediterranean in early June, Paris and Ankara have been trading increasingly sharp verbal blows over their respective actions in implementing the UN arms embargo on Libya. While this may appear to be just another moment of friction between NATO allies, particularly with Turkey, it is not. This incident represents a more deep-seated strategic dilemma for NATO as well as an increasingly stark divide between the European Union and Turkey.

This strategic dilemma is rooted in Turkey’s new regional foreign and security policy, based in part on its “Blue Homeland” doctrine. The implementation of this doctrine has caused a series of serious incidents that have been observed by Turkey’s allies but fleetingly, if rarely, addressed. Encountering little resistance, Turkey believes its actions to be largely accepted (as some are, such as limiting Russian influence). But the totality of Turkey’s policies and actions have now reached a point of dangerous escalation, which could substantially challenge the coherence of NATO’s collective defense posture in the Mediterranean and weaken its political cohesion. Turkey’s actions threaten to hinder vital NATO-EU cooperation in the region as well.

To avoid this, allies should approach the growing instability in the Mediterranean through an integrative policy that seeks to deescalate tensions and define, with Ankara, common interests by identifying some agreed principles to guide regional behavior. If Turkey is unwilling to join such an initiative, greater transatlantic tensions lie ahead.

Turkey’s Blue Homeland Ambitions
Turkey’s Blue Homeland Doctrine has its origins in a plan drawn up by Turkish admiral Cem Gurdeniz in 2006. It sets out an ambitious goal to underline and expand, through assertive diplomacy and military means, Turkey’s influence in the Mediterranean, Aegean, and Black Seas while enabling access to energy and other economic resources. President Erdogan adopted it in 2015 as an integral part of a national strategy of “forward defense” in the context of his sustained drive to assert Turkish independence in all aspects of foreign policy to include influence in its surrounding regions.

Turkey’s actions in the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea, such as its latest actions in Syria, the Red Sea, and other places in the world, are a part of a complex and bigger plan, which was designed by Turkey to establish maritime control in its surrounding seas.

The plan will allow Turkey’s economic and energetic independence and growth.

The Turkish plan, known as “The Blue Homeland Doctrine” (Mavi Vatan), was announced by the Turkish Admiral Cem Gurdeniz in 2006. Today the “Blue Homeland” doctrine set targets to Turkish control in two range envelopes.
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