European Parliament pressures Turkey over its Iran policy

The document, formally called the European Parliament 2009 Enlargement Report and due to be voted on in the parliament on Thursday, “calls on the Turkish government to coordinate its foreign policy with the EU, in particular regarding Iran; [but] regrets, however, that the EU-NATO strategic cooperation extending beyond the ‘Berlin Plus’ arrangements continues to be blocked by Turkey’s objections, which has negative consequences for the protection of the EU personnel deployed, and urges Turkey to set aside those objections as soon as possible.”

Turkish officials were unhappy about the critical tone of the report, drafted by Italian Christian Democrat Gabriele Albertini. “This is extremely unfair to Turkey,” a senior Turkish diplomat who wished to remain anonymous told Today’s Zaman.

The so-called “Berlin Plus” agreement provides the basis for NATO-EU cooperation in crisis management by allowing the EU to have access to NATO’s collective assets and capabilities for EU-led operations, including command arrangements and assistance in operational planning.

NATO member and EU candidate Turkey wants the EU to address injustices by persuading EU-member Greek Cyprus to drop its veto over Ankara’s bid to become an associate member of the European Defense Agency (EDA) -- the body set up to nurture EU-wide defense industry policy. Ankara also wants to be consulted more on European security policy, arguing that it is already a major participant in EU-led military operations.

The five-page report, which deals with the membership process of Western Balkan countries as well as Iceland and Turkey, also focused on the Cyprus problem from a Greek Cypriot perspective and urged Ankara “to contribute actively to the swift devising of a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus question.”

Turkey has built close ties with neighboring Iran in the past years and now says it is ready to help efforts to resolve an international dispute over Tehran’s contentious nuclear program peacefully. But the growing cooperation between Turkey and Iran has led to speculations in the West that Turkey is shifting from its Western-oriented foreign policy to an Eastern-oriented one.

Helene Flautre, co-chairperson of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission, told a group of Turkish journalists in Strasbourg that the regime in Iran is not acceptable: “Turkey plays a key role in a region which is vital for Europe. You should be proud of yourself, but as I told [Foreign Minister Ahmet] Davutoğlu, the regime in Iran is not acceptable. They came to power thanks to a disputed election,” she said.

Addressing Iran’s misgivings over sending low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad before it gets reactor fuel in return as part of a compromise plan, the UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has suggested Iran place the LEU in a friendly third country like Turkey, pending arrival of the fuel. Iran, however, has so far not accepted the offer, leading to calls in Europe for sanctions on Tehran. Ankara dismisses sanctions and call for talks for peaceful resolution of the dispute instead.

“If we have a problem here, the solution requires diplomacy and dialogue,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Özügergin said yesterday at a press conference in Ankara, pledging that Ankara would continue to work hard for a peaceful settlement. “There are thoughts of other options, but we don’t even take them into consideration.”