It is the second time that the Turkish foreign minister has been invited Hakan Fidan to participate in the informal Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union, or “Gymnich Council”, as it is named after the castle of the same name in the German city of Erfstadt where it was first held in 1974.
The invitation to Mr. Fidan was made six months ago, as the Gymnich Council meets twice a year in the country holding the EU presidency. But then he did not come, not because he did not want to, of course, but because of the refusal of the Cypriot foreign minister Konstantinos Kobos to sit with him in the same council at a time when Turkey does not recognize Cyprus and has occupation troops on the island. At that time, Fidan’s participation in a European Council was very well prepared and the veto raised by the Cypriot minister created some clouds of distance between Athens and Nicosia, but with mutual explanations (and visits to Greece and Cyprus) the clouds quickly dissipated.
The new invitation came, without however removing the reasons why the Cypriot minister vetoed it six months ago. That is, Turkey still does not recognize Cyprus and the Turkish occupation troops have not withdrawn a single one of the 38,000 soldiers of Attila’s invasion.
But what was it that made Mr. Kobo change his mind and now say “yes” to a participation in a European council of his secret Tagip Erdogancurrent foreign minister and former head of Turkey’s secret services?
Grand political alliance
Cyprus consented to Fidan’s participation because, as was said, “the efforts made to resume the talks were also taken into account”which means that this meeting for Nicosia will have major political significance. And this despite the intense reactions of the Cypriot opposition parties, as well as some parties in Greece.
It was preceded, according to the information, by some phone calls from the EU leadership to the Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulidisbut there was also the agreement of the Greek government to Fidan’s participation in the Gymnich Council. Besides, Athens and Ankara are looking for such opportunities to prepare for the upcoming meeting Mitsotakis – Erdogan in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (with the most likely date on September 23).
Athens and Nicosia, however, are well prepared on August 28 and 29 at the informal Council of EU Foreign Ministers. Their goal is to keep Euro-Turkish relations connected with the Cyprus issue, but also to create a gap for the resumption of talks. But Fidan’s goal, after accepting the invitation and coming to the Summit, is to disconnect Euro-Turkish relations from the Cyprus issue with the argument that the issue of his country’s accession talks with Europe is one thing and the issue on the Megalopolis is another.
Disconnecting the Cyprus issue from Euro-Turkish relations and accession talks is considered difficult or even impossible, since the governments of Cyprus and Greece are reminding all EU states of the recent conclusions of the European Council on Turkey: “The European Union”, mentioned, “attributes particular importance to the resumption and progress of talks for the settlement of the Cyprus issue with the aim of further strengthening EU-Turkey cooperation. Recalling its previous conclusions, the European Council remains fully committed to the overall settlement of the Cyprus issue, within the framework of the UN, in accordance with the relevant decisions of the United Nations Security Council and respecting the principles on which the Union is founded and the acquis. The European Council welcomes her appointment Maria-Angela Holguin Quellard as the personal envoy of the UN Secretary General for Cyprus. The European Union is ready to actively contribute to support all stages of the process under the auspices of the UN, with all the appropriate means at its disposal.”
The goal of Athens and Nicosia (perhaps the most important) is to finally have this much-discussed tripartite meeting of the president of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides, the representative of the Turkish Cypriots Ersin Tatarunder the auspices of the UN. It should be noted that almost on a daily basis the Minister of Foreign Affairs George Gerapetritis talks about this matter with the special envoy of the UN Secretary General for Cyprus Mrs. Holgin.
The problem, of course, is getting the occupying Tatar leader to join the tripartite. Because, according to diplomatic sources, once he joins he will immediately encounter a mountain of negative decisions for the creation of two states or for equal sovereignty, as the Turks now call partition. However, the discussion in Brussels, in the informal Council, may give an impetus to the tripartite.
Orban’s “punishment”.
This time the informal Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union will not be held in Hungary, the country holding the EU Presidency. The reason is that the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has angered several EU countries after his so-called “peacekeeping missions”, during which he visited Vladimir Putinthe president of Russia, and Xi Jinpingthe leader of China. And the first consequences are already visible. The traditional informal meeting of EU foreign ministers will finally take place in Brussels.
Of course, the agenda of the upcoming Council is also of interest, in the discussion of which Fidan will certainly not participate. Issues such as Russia and Ukraine will be examined (with the participation of the foreign minister of Ukraine), after the invasion of Ukrainian troops in Russia, the issue of Venezuela (after the controversial election victory of Nicolas Maduro), the major problem of Gaza and the promotion of humanitarian aid and of course the overall issues in the Middle East.
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