STAR- Columnist Semih Idiz comments on Turkey’s European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). A summary of his columns is as follows:
While concentrating on the situation in Middle East, Afghanistan and Cyprus, we seem to have forgotten some other areas of Turkey’s foreign policy, but developments have continued. The last of them concerns the ESDP, which seemed to have reached a satisfactory conclusion, but which in fact still remains unresolved. This extremely complex issue had appeared to be at an end following long, hard negotiations held in Ankara and London with US and British officials. In these negotiations, the US represented NATO, while Britain represented the EU. The talks ended up agreeing that the proposed EU army under the ESDP could not be used against a member of NATO and that the EU could only use NATO supplies and facilities with the full agreement of all NATO members. All of the EU member countries accepted this arrangement, except Greece, which is still balking. Athens is arguing that no non-EU country can be in a position to be able to influence EU military decisions, even if that country belongs to NATO. In rejecting the “Ankara agreement,” Greece signaled that it couldn’t tolerate the diplomatic advantage that Turkey had gained with the support of all the other EU members. As long as Greece continues to reject the Ankara agreement and exercise its veto, this issue cannot be considered a done deal for Turkey. Therefore, Turkey cannot let down its guard. But recent developments point to a way that Ankara can soon concretely show the EU its determined manner on this issue. The place to make its stand will be Macedonia, where NATO is to withdraw its forces and transfer military responsibility to the EU. According to sources close to European Parliament Turkey-EU Joint Parliament Committee Co-Chairman De Heer Joost Ladendijk, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem conveyed Turkey’s determination to the EU side during a one-and-a-half-hour meeting he held with Ladendijk. So in short order, unless Greece lifts its veto on the current ESDP agreement, Ankara is preparing to prevent the command transfer of the international force in Macedonia from NATO to the EU. In other words, if such a transfer occurs, it will block the EU taking benefit of its alliance with the North Atlantic Council, where NATO decisions can be taken only by full consensus. In fact, at this point Turkey is fully in the right. Readers may recall how the guarantees which were given to Turkey in Washington during NATO’s 50th anniversary celebrations then faced attempts at derailment at the hands of NATO members who also belong to the EU. When Turkey sharply rejected these attempts, long discussions resulted in the Ankara consensus. In summary, Turkey wants Greece to sign the Ankara agreement, which should be a binding agreement for the EU.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION