Turkey’s top diplomat called for urgent dialogue between Ankara and the European Union to address rising tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, Libya, and developments in the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict.
“TURKEY IS THE MOST DEVELOPED MARKET IN THE REGION”
In an interview with Italian news agency Agenzia Nova during his recent visit to Rome, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said he considered Italy “a strong NATO ally and a balanced partner in regional issues.”
He added, however, that Turkey was disappointed by the outcome of the EU Special Council on Oct. 1-2, which he believed “did not yield the expected results.”
Çavuşoğlu said that that the summit’s conclusions “were designed again to put the solidarity within the union before international law and equity,” accusing the EU of having been “once more taken hostage by the maximalist demands of Greece and Greek Cypriots.”
“Turkey is the most developed and the biggest electricity and gas market in the region,” Çavuşoğlu said. “It is not possible to establish a functional and fruitful mechanism in the Eastern Mediterranean by ignoring these facts.”
Çavuşoğlu said there was “an urgent need to normalize our relations with the EU,” noting that Turkey and the EU must have common short-term goals, including more engagement and dialogue.