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Mogherini to visit Turkey a week after Putin

05 December 2014, 17:43 CET
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Mogherini to visit Turkey a week after Putin

Federica Mogherini - Photo EU Council

(BRUSSELS) - New EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini travels to Turkey next week to highlight the "strategic importance" of ties just one week after Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rival visit to woo a key regional player.

Europe and Russia are both courting the Muslim-majority nation, a long-standing but so far unsuccessful candidate for EU membership, which is widely seen as a bulwark against turmoil in Syria and Iraq.

Putin used his visit to Turkey last week to unexpectedly announce the cancellation of the giant South Stream gas pipeline linking Russia to Europe, amid tensions between Moscow and Brussels over the crisis in Ukraine.

"The visit to Turkey... is a strong indication of the strategic importance of the EU-Turkey relationship and our desire to step up engagement in view of shared interests and common challenges," Mogherini said in a statement Friday.

Former Italian foreign minister Mogherini, who took up the post of EU diplomatic chief on November 1, will travel on Monday and Tuesday with EU Humanitarian Affairs Commissioner Christos Stylianides and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn.

"I reiterate Europe's solidarity with Turkey, most notably the host communities who are generously hosting more than one million refugees from Syria and Iraq," Stylianides said in the statement.

The trip comes just days after Putin visited Ankara with 10 ministers in tow to promise a huge increase in trade and closer relations, despite sharp differences over the crises in Syria and Ukraine.

During a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Putin announced the cancellation of the multi-billion-dollar South Stream, saying instead that Russia would work with Turkey on a gas hub.

EU officials downplayed the importance of his announcement, stressing instead Turkey's importance as an alternative route for future gas supplies from central Asia as Europe seeks to ease its heavy energy dependence on Russia.

- Accession talks 'difficult' -

"We will be interested to hear from the Turkish side about the recent visit by Putin," one EU official said.

The official, who asked not to be named, said the EU would also "make the point that we expect the support of Turkey on sanctions" imposed against Russia for its role in the Ukraine crisis.

Ankara opposes Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and has voiced concern about the future of the Turkic Crimean Tatar minority under Russian rule.

Turkey is a long-standing candidate for EU membership, beginning so-called accession talks in 2005, but they have so far made little progress.

Ankara has been repeatedly angered by Brussels' insistence on human rights, while there are strong reservations in some EU member states against allowing in such a large Muslim country.

Negotiations resumed late last year following a three-year freeze but Erdogan's growing authoritarianism has since then only raised fresh concerns in the EU.

"We are committed to moving forward EU-Turkey relations and keeping the accession negotiations on track," Hahn said in the statement.

"However, further reforms are needed to provide solid ground for progress. To achieve this, we need to have an even closer and deeper relationship with Turkey," he added.

EU officials said Mogherini's trip was meant to kickstart the talks and the whole relationship with Turkey.

"It's a bit of a reset," an EU official said on condition of anonymity.

"Missions of this size and character (represent) a big political investment," one EU official said, adding that the accession talks were "going through a difficult phase."

The European Union and its member states have provided some 2.5 billion euros in humanitarian aid to help neighbouring countries deal with the millions of refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria.

On Thursday, the bloc announced a further package worth 180 million euros to help Jordan and Lebanon.

EU-Turkey relations - the European External Action Service


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