European expansion to include Turkey and issues related to the Middle East and the Arab Spring were at the centre of the talks held by Minister Giulio Terzi’s Special Envoy for the Mediterranean, Maurizio Massari, in Ankara. As Massari reminded his Turkish interlocutors, Italy is “sponsoring” their country’s entry to the European Union. The meetings included an exchange of views on how to take forward the “positive agenda”, i.e. Turkey’s involvement in the discussion of EU issues over and above the negotiations on the different “chapters”, which we firmly support.
Italy is sponsoring the Turkey Focus Group, which replaced the former Friends of Turkey Group. The Group will meet in the margins of the forthcoming EU Council of Ministers on 27 February, which Minister Terzi will be attending. The talks in Ankara, reported Massari, also served to understand the Turkish perception of “how this exercise can be used to move forward the European Union-Turkey dialogue”.
Turning to the Middle East and the Arab Spring, Massari said he had found the Turkish authorities in agreement on how best to open a political process in Syria. “In our view, Turkey is a central actor in the entire region”, said the Envoy. He added that Ankara’s role had grown considerably after the events of the last year. It is Italy’s intention, therefore, to liaise very closely with Turkey to exchange political evaluations and discuss options.
“Italy’s message was well received”, added Massari. He underscored that “it is in the interest of the Turks too to liaise closely with us and engage in frequent, regular discussion”. During this latest visit, Massari discussed “how the region as a whole will evolve, from Tunisia to Morocco, to Egypt, to Libya”. The talks also touched on “the democratic transitions in these countries, where both Italy and Turkey have interests and have a very important role to play”.
