The secretary-general of the Council of Europe (CoE), Thornjorn Hoagland, gains distinction as the first high-ranking European official to visit Ankara after the abortive coup of July 15. Hoagland’s is a recce mission to fathom the mood in Ankara, which is of course very ugly.
Turkish President Recep Erdogan (R) will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on August 9
It is not as if EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini remains indifferent. She is dutifully awaiting the green signal from Washington, but that may have to wait until Vice-President Joe Biden visits Turkey in the coming weeks, hopefully.
After the talks in Ankara, Joagland caved in to render an abject public apology on behalf of all Europeans.
“I would like to say there has been too little understanding from Europe over what challenges this (coup) has caused to the democratic and state institutions of Turkey,” he admitted after talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara on Wednesday.
Joagland added that Turkey is “such an important European country. It is important that we do all that we can to help Turkey get through this process.”
The EU’s overture comes on the eve of the forthcoming meeting of Turkish President Recep Erdogan with Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on August 9.
Reuters has reported that EU officials and diplomats are worried and are “watching warily” the Turkish-Russian rapprochement.
What could it be that makes the officials in Brussels tizzy, twisting their fingers, as angst builds in their body?
Categories: Europe, Europe and Australia, European Union, Russia, Turkey
It proves Russians run while Americans and Europeans crawl.