Presidency’s Directorate of Communications held a panel titled "Turkish Foreign and Security Policy in an Age of Global Transformation and Regional Instability" in Madrid, Spain.
The panel which was organized at the Spanish think-tank "International Affairs and Foreign Policy Institute (INCIPE)" within the scope of "Turkey Talks" drew the attention of diplomatic missions, international think-tanks and media representatives.
Turkey’s Ambassador in Madrid Cihad Erginay delivered the opening speech of the panel.
"Turkey and the TRNC are tried to be prevented from using their legal rights in the Mediterranean"
In her presentation titled “Turkish Foreign and Security Policy in the Eastern Mediterranean”, Presidential Security and Foreign Policy Council Member Prof. Nurşin Ateşoğlu Güney stated that the Eastern Mediterranean was escalated via various geopolitical and geo-economic tensions between various actors at regional and strategic levels.
Noting that Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which have the longest coastlines along the Mediterranean are faced with the challenge at the military and naval forces level, Güney pointed out that Turkey and the TRNC are tried to be prevented from enjoying their legal rights in the Mediterranean.
Güney indicated that while the West and the US are trying to exclude Turkey and the TRNC from the existing power equations in the Mediterranean, Turkey, on one hand, is carrying out an active diplomacy in this challenging framework, on the other hand, it is continuing its hydrocarbon search activities with its seismic exploration and drilling ships to protect its legal rights.
Emphasizing that instead of the formation which excludes Turkey and the TRNC, it would be more beneficial to focus on preventing conflicts in the Mediterranean basin, Güney stated that otherwise the current geopolitical power diplomacy would increase the tension between the actors of the Mediterranean geo-policy.
“EU did not fulfill its commitments regarding the refugees”
In her presentation titled “Syria and Humanitarian Foreign Policy", Daily Sabah Newspaper’s Editorial Coordinator Meryem İlayda Atlas said that Syrian refugees are living in Turkey for more than five years and noted that the refugee problem is not just a problem of Turkey, but is an international one.
Underlining that Turkey faces problems due to hosting 4 million refugees and its efforts to establish a “safe zone” in Syria to solve them are interrupted, Atlas said that the commitments and promises made by the EU regarding the refugees are not fulfilled.
Stressing that similarly, Turkey which did not receive any support from the US, launched the Astana Process together with Russia and Iran, Atlas said that even though Turkey tried all the solutions through diplomatic channels, it could not overcome its security concerns about Syria, and it had to conduct the Operations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch against the YGP and DEAŞ threats.
"The US is indecisively acting towards Turkey"
SETA Washington Research Director Kılıç Buğra Kanat made a presentation titled "Transatlantic Relations and Turkey" and emphasized that the difference and contradictions between the expressions of the US President Trump and various institutions concerning Turkey raise question marks in minds.
Noting that Obama's term was called "model partnership" for the Turkish-US relations, which Trump described it as "strategic partnership", Kanat stated that in practice, these definitions are not applied.
Kanat said that even though in his meeting with President Erdoğan during the G-20 summit in Osaka, Trump indicated that Turkey was right regarding the Patriot and S-400 issues, and made assessments which support Turkey’s thesis; the US Department of Defense made exactly opposite explanations.
Expressing that the Turkish-US relations have become the subject of a power struggle between the legislative and executive powers in the US, Kanat added that except the F-35 and CAATSA sanctions, other issues, through which the Turkish-US relations are tested, are the indecisive stance of the US regarding the FETO and the US support extended for the YPG.
The panel ended with the questions and answers concerning the developments in Turkey’s relations with the US, Russia and Spain, as well as the topics on NATO, the Eastern Mediterranean, immigration and security.
