Turkish FM accepts EU ministers meeting after Nicosia’s go-ahead
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has accepted an invitation to attend a European Union ministers meeting in Brussels next week along with Cyprus’ Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, it was reported on Thursday.
Confirmation of Fidan’s attendance came from Turkey’s foreign ministry spokesperson, who said “we welcome this invitation.”
The meeting will take place on August 29.
Kombos has stressed that Fidan’s invitation came after the green light from Nicosia, with the government denying it had been under any pressure to do so.
He has previously said Turkey’s participation in the upcoming unofficial EU foreign affairs council meeting was based on the decisions made in a recent EU Council report.
Back in April, the EU sent the message that if Turkey will engage actively and constructively in the Cyprus talks, there will be corresponding progress in Euro-Turkish relations, Kombos specified.
Explaining the thinking behind the decision to greenlight Fidan’s participation, Kombos said it is not something that is happening for the first time and it does not mean the “Greek-Cypriot side is conceding”.
EU candidate Turkey’s ties with the bloc have been rocky in recent years. Its bid to join the EU has long been frozen due to EU concerns over its record on human rights and differences over regional policies, namely in the eastern Mediterranean and over the Cyprus problem.
However, the bloc depends on Nato member Turkey’s help, particularly on migration.
During tensions between EU-member Greece and Turkey in 2019, Brussels threatened sanctions against Ankara and cut off certain dialogue channels. Ties have improved since 2021 with high-level talks restarting.
Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said Fidan had been invited to attend the meeting on August 29, which Ankara hoped would form the basis to overcome the “deadlock” from 2019, adding it showed the EU recognised the need to improve ties too.
“We welcome this invitation. We evaluate it as a search for dialogue from the EU,” Keceli said, adding that cooperation and dialogue with the bloc must be on a “continuous and systematic” basis and strengthened in a “sustainable and predictable” way to improve ties.
He added the bloc’s positive approach should not be limited to such meetings, saying Ankara expected “concrete steps” on the issues of its accession, visa liberalisation for Turks, talks to modernise a customs union with the EU, and on deepening dialogue on economic, political, transportation, and energy matters.