Foreign Minister Baerbock intends to address several sensitive issues on her three-day trip to Greece and Turkey. The visits to Istanbul and Ankara in particular could become a diplomatic tightrope act.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock embarks on a three-day trip to Greece and Turkey, which will be marked by the war in Ukraine. The double visit to the two NATO partners is important to her, especially in these difficult times when Russia is trying to split the Western alliance, said the Green politician before her departure. “Never more has it depended on cohesion between NATO allies and European partners.”
There has long been a conflict between Greece and Turkey over natural gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean. “Problems must be solved through talks, not through escalating tensions,” Baerbock said. The Foreign Minister made it clear that she wanted to speak plainly in Turkey. On the one hand, she acknowledged Ankara’s mediation efforts between Russia and Ukraine, which led to an agreement on ending the blockade of grain exports from Ukraine.
But she will also address issues in Turkey “on which we sometimes have fundamental differences,” stressed Baerbock. These included Turkey’s military action in northern Syria and human rights issues. “Here, too, we have to ensure that our paths converge again.”
On Thursday, however, Baerbock will first travel to Athens. There she will commemorate the crimes of the German occupying powers during the Second World War with a visit to the former Nazi city command and the Holocaust memorial in Athens. The Greek government continues to raise claims for reparations for war damage suffered, but these are rejected by Germany. Baerbock also wants to visit the Schisto refugee camp near Athens and the European border protection agency Frontex at the port of Piraeus.
Baerbock will hold political talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on Friday. She will then meet Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Istanbul before continuing on to the capital, Ankara. Talks with representatives of the opposition are also on their agenda there. “Turkey is an indispensable partner and linked to ours like no other country. Millions of people have a heart for our two countries,” said Baerbock. “That’s why it’s important to me that we don’t drift further and further apart politically.”