How did the German President say it? That, he says, it is important to frequently make it clear to Turkey regardless of who will do it, that behaviour regarding the resolution of the Cyprus issue should also be related to other issues of Turkey, such as its approach to the EU.
“And this message should be sent to Turkey by the member states.”
Well, what matters is probably the parenthesis: regardless of who will do it. Perhaps he meant that others should do it, let Germany not do it…
Because, despite the recent chill with Erdogan due to Israel, German-Turkish geopolitical, military, and economic relations continue without disruption until today, since the time of the German and Ottoman Empires.
They were not disrupted even during World War II when Europe was under Nazi attacks and Turkey signed a friendship treaty with Germany and supplied Hitler with chromium and other raw materials to manufacture weapons and kill Europeans. But Europeans protect it until today.
The same conditions prevail today. Germany is the most important destination for Turkish exports (vehicles, automotive components, textiles), while imports to Turkey from Germany are enormous.
In various products, but mainly in arms systems. We are talking about tens of billions. How much weight do the words of Frank-Walter Steinmeier have on the scale and how much do the billions of transactions?
We say these things because yesterday I heard various sophistries about the historic visit of the first German President, who also went to the Green Line and was certainly shocked by what he saw.
He may, of course, be the first President to make an official visit to Cyprus, but Chancellor Angela Merkel also came, during Demetris Christofias’s term, and they did have chemistry and she even picked oranges from the presidential garden in her enthusiasm.
Nothing changed in Germany’s attitude, even if the oranges of the presidential garden were sweet. Nor will it change now with Steinmeier’s historic visit. And do you know why?
Because Europe does not have political leaders, it has trade and military equipment robots to govern countries (and the EU) as if they were using artificial intelligence instead of mind and soul. If they were not robots, who would go to the dead zone to face the dark soul of Nicosia and return to their country putting what they saw in the drawer?
Of course, it is positive that even Steinmeier will now have a personal perception of what is happening in Cyprus, and it is not insignificant that he knows that Turkey’s behaviour regarding the resolution of the Cyprus issue should also be related to its approach to the EU.
But, let’s not wrap it in a handkerchief. In practice, especially in the EU, after the British left, it is the Germans and their satellites that we find in front of us covering Ankara.
Anyway, regardless of the above, what our leadership must bear in mind is that it is not accidental that this first historic visit is happening now.
The Eastern Mediterranean is undergoing geopolitical rearrangement. France is becoming the European power of the Mediterranean in cooperation with Greece and Cyprus. Italy has its role.
Germany is out of this game and seeks ways to enter. In this effort, it sees Turkey as its partner, not us. And the high-level officials need to work on this.
Let them finally bring in some experts to do a study, to see what they can do, in whose interests of Germany Cyprus can enter. As Steinmeier said yesterday, Cyprus is a safe haven for Europe in the region. Isn’t it for Germany?
