“It’s never a dull moment,” is the saying when it comes to describing the domestic and external political landscape of Turkey. And 2020 has certainly not been an exception to this description.
As suggested by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Dec. 25, Turkey is working on a road map with the European Union to create a positive atmosphere for future ties. It’s also in talks with France after months of mutual megaphone diplomacy that resulted in an unprecedented deterioration in ties. Ankara and Paris seem to have agreed on a road map that includes the desire to avoid harsh mutual criticisms through the media so as to mend their ties in the coming period.
Turkish-EU history will certainly not mark 2020 as one of the best years in relations. Although the first half of the year witnessed high-level talks between Ankara and Brussels that paved the way for talks to return to normalcy, developments in the eastern Mediterranean in the second half of the year have created an unprecedented escalation in ties.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent conversations with EU Council President Charles Michel and German Chancellor Angela Merkel focused on the future ties between Ankara and Brussels in light of the EU Council’s recent conclusions.
Four years ago today, on Dec. 19, both Turkey and Russia, as well as all diplomatic communities, were shocked by the news of the assassination of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov.
With around more than a month to hand over the White House to President-elect Joe Biden, the Trump administration has taken the inevitable step and imposed sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition of S-400 air defense systems from Russia.
As the world marked the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement with a summit over the weekend, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged all governments around the world to declare a state of climate emergency until the planet reached net zero CO2 emissions.
The EU Council has avoided new turmoil in its ties with Turkey. Instead, it has opened a new window of opportunity for all the parties concerned, especially Turkey, Greece, Greek Cyprus and France, to start a new process through dialogue.
EU leaders will meet on Dec. 10 and 11 to discuss some very important issues on their agenda, including future ties with Turkey. The foreign ministers of the 27 member countries concluded on Dec. 7 that they should issue a response to Turkey’s unilateral actions in the eastern Mediterranean but left the details on the measures to their leaders.
