The invitation, addressed by the EU to the Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to participate  along with his  27 EU colleagues  in their upcoming  meeting of August 29th, is nothing short of a triumph for Turkish diplomacy.

This is so because during this informal meeting  the  EU Foreign Ministers will debate in depth what the EU is to do regarding the two  raging wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East.

It is going to be a free discussion, without the usual concerns of agreed conclusions , press communiqué or even the pain of keeping official minutes for the record.

With the blessing of both Cyprus and Greece, Turkey will be there and contribute into shaping the EU policies regarding these two major geopolitical issues.

The invitation carries a clear political message: the EU does not, any more, view Turkey to have perpetrated an invasion to an independent UN member-state (namely the Republic of Cyprus) like  Russia did in Ukraine.

Quite on the contrary, the EU looks at Turkey as a partner to work with, both in Ukraine and in the Middle East. Notwithstanding the fact that Ankara has taken the liberty to self-exclude Turkish trade with Russia from NATO sanctions against Moscow!

And regardless of the fact that Turkey`s Erdogan has no qualms in publicly threatening Israel to militarily intervene in Lebanon or even in Gaza, purportedly to stop the genocides committed there by the Jewish state!

The Turkish diplomatic triumph reflects EU`s uselessness and disunion. Europeans were brought to quash longstanding Greek and Cypriot objections to any consultations with Turkey, as long as the later had not formally recognized Cyprus and had not agreed to a negotiated schedule for withdrawing the Turkish army occupying the north of the island. Excuses uttered by Foreign Ministers Kompos of Cyprus and Yerapetritis of Greece are irrelevant with the core of the matter.

These two were coerced to accept that the country which invaded  Cyprus in 1974 (and most likely Greece, in dew time!) is, henceforth, to consult with the EU on mending the Russian invasion to Ukraine and on repairing the situation in Palestine and Lebanon! Never since the Ottomans banged at the gates of Vienna, had Turkey been permitted  to shape the European policies on matters of paramount significance for the future of this continent!

For those of us in Greece and  Cyprus who wish not to envisage our future in the very terms  the  Fanariots did in the Danube Hegemonies, during the early 19th century, there is no alternative but to brush off the pitiful, non-elected appointees leading the Greek Foreign Ministry. And to address directly the EU Foreign Ministers on what is at stake between Turkey and the EU:

1)The “Mavi Vatan” theory promoted by Turkey, not to mention the absurd project by Ankara to delimitate  exclusive  economic zones with  Libya at the expense of the Greek islands–like Crete– lying in between, constitute a direct affront to EU`s territorial integrity and to the European exclusive economic zone. As Turkey seeks to confirm these claims by using   her  Navy and Armed Forces, the EU must respond in kind.

2) Since Ankara attempts by military means to prevent Athens  and Nicosia from exercising their sovereign rights in their respective exclusive economic zones, the EU must efficiently sanction all deliveries of European military equipment to Turkey. Pending agreements of the kind between EU companies and Turkey are not to be implemented. Instead, Greece and Cyprus are to be called to substitute Turkey in the said agreements. The EU is to finance all the additional burdens of military expenses, while Greece and Cyprus are to provide collaterals for these loans based on their revenues to come from exploiting their rich exclusive economic zones.

3) Turkey uses migratory flows to undermine the social cohesion in the EU member states ,Greece and Cyprus in particular. It is clear that Turkey constitutes a third safe country for the vast majority of those persecuted in Africa, in Palestine, in Syria ,in Iraq, in Iran, in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Therefore, methodically encouraging the passage of persons from these countries to EU territory, as Erdogan and his ministers often  admit to do, is an inimical act targeting EU vital interests. The EU shall immediately stop payments to Ankara, in exchange of temporary suspension of the orchestrated migratory flows towards the EU. Instead, Turkish  blackmail of the kind which victimizes   desperate people seeking security and a decent life, must be dealt with the systematic use of EU sanctions on Turkish exports and by the restriction of  visas to Turkish passport -holders.

4)   Ankara methodically foments the Islamic refusal of European values and legal order throughout the EU member-states. Moreover, Ankara actively subverts the loyalty of Muslims  to the state authorities  in the EU and  constantly strives to elevate Turkey to the rank of  legitimate protector and political representative of all Muslims residing in Europe. The whole issue amounts to a hallmark case of foreign intrusion and infringement to EU`s internal order and affairs. Mechanisms, networks and organizations used by Turkey  in this endeavor  need to be legally and actually dissolved and  those leading them are to be deprived of  their European citizenships and deported.

5) We must make a distinction between EU`s bureaucratic  illusions  and the reality on the ground. Turkey evolves and rises sharply to become a formidable cultural and political opponent of the EU, an  economic competitor as well. Therefore, Turkey is absolutely unsuited to be utilized by the EU  as  a tool  either to outflank Russia`s influence  in the Caucasus and  Central Asia or to bring  stability in the Middle East. The EU and Turkey are on different, colliding agendas in both major wars of our time.

On the other hand, Greece and Cyprus are culturally, and politically apt to project European values and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans and the Middle East. Should the EU were to help herself and not her rising geopolitical opponent in Eastern Mediterranean, then the EU must consistently support  her own member-states in the region.

Open Letter to the Greek public opinion and to the EU Embassies in Greece,regarding the dire consequences of inviting the Turkish FM to the EU`s informal Council, of August 29th,2024