Brussels conference warns of danger of Turkey expansionism in Mediterranean

BRUSSELS - The European Parliament hosted in Brussels Tuesday a European conference entitled “Turkish intervention in the Mediterranean: Causes, targets and dangers?” under the framework of the European Assembly against Extremism and Terrorism.

A large number of deputies, politicians and experts representing various political trends from five European countries spoke at the conference.

The conference focused on two main parts: Turkish intervention in the eastern Mediterranean, specifically the issue of gas exploration off the coast of Cyprus, and Turkish direct military intervention in Libya where a number of participants condemned the signing of the Libyan government of reconciliation led by Fayez al-Sarraj with the Turkish government, an agreement to draw water and other military borders, saying that these agreements threaten stability in the Mediterranean. 

The participants expressed their fear of Turkish interference in the Mediterranean, which would have regional and global repercussions, and of turning Libya into a new Syria in a short period.

Former Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis made a detailed historical presentation of the maritime geographical borders in the Mediterranean and considered that the length of the maritime borders that amount to 1700 km with Greece and the rest of the Mediterranean countries was one of the reasons that prompted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to sign the agreement with the Libyan government.

Yakis considered that Turkey has demands to divide the maritime borders and freedom to access its wealth and this is the goal through which Erdogan seeks to obtain a legal right regarding maritime borders and therefore a unilateral agreement was signed with Libya to demarcate the maritime borders without consulting with the rest of the Mediterranean countries.

The former Turkish FM said that Erdogan also signed a military cooperation agreement with the government of Tripoli, but the problem of this government, as he put it, is that it is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood and militias linked to terrorist organizations.

Yakis stressed that the depth of the problem was the policy followed by Erdogan's government.

"It makes us ask questions about the dangers besetting Turkey through its immersion in Libya," he said.

Yakis warned that Libya may turn to a new Syria because of its oil wealth, especially since Turkey in this scene does not have any clear-cut policy to get out of this crisis.

He warned that the unclear Erdogan’s Turkish foreign policy may put Ankara in grave danger due to this expansion towards Libya.

In conclusion, Yakis considered that the power was corrupted in reference to Erdogan, who lost the confidence of the Europeans years ago, form what he says.

For his part, Costas Mavrides, MEP for Cyprus and chair of the Political Committee for the Mediterranean in European Parliament, spoke of “strategic death”, which is the title of a book for a Turkish thinker who is one of theorists Erdogan venerates and tries to implement his theory regarding foreign policy by reviving the Ottoman expansionist policy.

Mavrides considers that this model is very simple for Erdogan, as the Turkish parliament supports him and votes for him with laws aimed at protecting peoples with Ottoman origins in the region as happened with Muslims in Cyprus.

He said that this was the policy that Erdogan had been implementing strictly in the Islamic world for several years and it was putting him in direct confrontation with the rest of the countries of the region and therefore this expansionist policy was the core of the problem through these offensive policies that do not observe international laws.

The chair of the Political Committee for the Mediterranean in the European Parliament condemned Erdogan’s policies and regime that supports terrorist organizations such as ISIS, Al-Nosra and the Muslim Brotherhood in public through logistical and military support as well as political in international forums and these expansionist Ottoman policies that he applies daily.

Mavrides pointed out that Erdogan used aggressive and denounced letters and terms that have not been used since or even during the Nazi era.

He stressed that the agreements that Erdogan signed with Libya do not conform to the laws of the United Nations or European laws because Turkey does not recognize Cyprus, which is a member country of the United Nations and a member of the European Union.

He concluded that Erdogan's policies threatened the stability of the Mediterranean, stressing that there was no role for Turkey in Libya and therefore its interference will turn Libya into another Syria.

Niyazi Kizilyurk, MEP for Cyprus, put the Turkish intervention in Libya in the category of the struggle for energy sources and considered that Erdogan was causing Turkey’s isolation through its expansionist policies.

Kizilyurk  said that Cyprus has the full right to invest its energy resources within its maritime borders but Turkey refuses to recognize this sovereignty and this right.

He asked why Erdogan refused to negotiate with the countries of the region to reach an agreement that satisfies all parties and allows the distribution of wealth of energy within the laws in force internationally.

The Cypriot deputy affirmed that Erdogan's refusal to hold such negotiations deprives even the Cypriots of the two parts with these riches, warning of the danger of persisting in these policies on the Mediterranean region and pointing to the failure of Turkish foreign policy.

Magnus Norell, a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, spoke about the Turkish foreign policy of the Erdogan regime and saw that the Turkish intervention in Libya embodies the post-zero policy problem, a stage full of problems, which he described as an expansionist policy that threatens security and stability.

Norell saw that these expansionist options are becoming a burden for Turkey and have created problems for Erdogan with countries in the region, such as Iran and Egypt.

The researcher also stressed the need for Europe to intervene to prevent arms exports to Libya, especially weapons from Turkey, because it destabilizes security and stability in the region and poses a threat to the Mediterranean countries.

He emphasised Erdogan regime’s proximity to the militias associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and thus terrorist groups.

Norell warned of the danger of political Islam that is still expanding in North Africa despite the fall of what is known as the ISIS caliphate, considering that Erdogan has succeeded in gathering more numbers of terrorists in Libya and the Arab Maghreb than in the past in Syria and Iraq

He concluded that that Turkey was without doubt using migrants to blackmail and intimidate the Europeans.

Jean Valere Baldacchino, President of The Geopolitical Research and Analysis Circle in Paris, also spoke about Turkey's expansionist policy in Libya and focused on the extent of its danger to the war France is waging against terrorism in Africa and in Mali in particular.

He considered that Turkey had ambitions for energy sources in the Mediterranean region, striking the wall with international laws and norms represented in an expansionist offensive policy that uses political Islam and Ottoman nationalism to justify its interference in neighbouring countries.

Baldacchino regretted that Europe did not deal firmly with the Erdogan government, especially in the file of the displaced and the infiltration of terrorists into Europe from Syria and thus this file turned into a source of blackmail that Erdogan exploited in his dealings with Europe, stressing that Europe has a big problem with Turkey because of its support for the Islamists clearly and frankly, Erdogan's ambitions are behind the tension in the Mediterranean.

More than 80 personalities and societies, including 15 diplomats representing ten countries, from 22 countries took part in the conference.