EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas praised Türkiye as an important actor in cooperation on regional issues and a strategic partner for the bloc ahead of her visit to Türkiye this Friday.
“It’s high time to visit Türkiye and I will do it really in the first part of my mandate. We have many issues. In addition to regional security, we can discuss cooperation in different areas such as energy, for example,” she told Anadolu Agency (AA) in an interview.
Kallas is expected to hold high-level talks with Turkish officials on regional foreign policy issues, steps in defense and security, and the development of Türkiye-EU relations.
“Türkiye remains in candidate country status but this process is at a standstill, and there are remaining issues in line with the 27 member states that we have,” Kallas said.
Türkiye has been a candidate for EU membership for over two decades, but talks stalled in 2016 over what Ankara says is the bloc’s “insistence on politicizing the issue.”
“Of course, the issue about Cyprus, human rights, the rule of law, fundamental rights are the issues that we need to discuss. So these are our points of contact,” Kallas said.
Türkiye suggests it has fulfilled most of the criteria for membership. Though the accession process stalled, the country has remained a key economic and defense partner for the 27-member bloc.
On the current state and future of Türkiye-EU relations, Kallas said there was “definitely” room for more cooperation and argued that both Ankara and Brussels are interested in a stable and secure environment in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“That is our mutual interest on Syria,” she said. “We also share the interest that this country develops in the right direction, and there’s the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country.”
During a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara last month, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen praised Türkiye’s stabilizing role in the region following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and called on other countries to heed Türkiye’s legitimate concerns about the threat of terrorism from Syria.
Noting that Brussels and Ankara were on the same page about Syria’s future, von der Leyen assured the EU would increase its humanitarian air bridge to Syria, which would operate through Türkiye. Erdoğan said Türkiye expects the bloc to diversify its support to the civil war-torn country.
Von der Leyen also announced an additional 1 billion euros ($1.04 billion) allocated for the return of Syrian refugees. The EU and Türkiye both host large communities of Syrian refugees, with over 1 million having been granted international protection in the bloc and around 3 million Syrian refugees living in Türkiye.
Sanctions on Syria
Kallas became one of the first top diplomats to visit Damascus to make contact with the new Syrian leadership last month.
She said it was still too soon to tell whether Syria was headed in the “right direction” but pointed out the new administration was making the “right steps.”
“That’s why I think it’s also very important that the international actors, as well as regional actors like the Arab countries, but also Türkiye that we share a common understanding,” she told AA. “We want to see the inclusiveness of the government in Syria. We want to see no radicalization. I think this is in the interest of everybody that it’s a stable country.”
The EU is therefore cautiously optimistic and willing to discuss the relief of sanctions, Kallas said, noting that it would be a “step-by-step” approach if the new Syrian administration “do the right things.”
“If they do, you know, steps that go in the wrong direction, then we are also willing to take a step back and put some sanctions back,” she added.
Western powers, including the United States and the European Union, imposed sanctions on Assad’s government over his brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011, which triggered civil war.
Ankara has urged the U.N. and the West to lift sanctions on Syria, arguing the international community must shift its focus from exclusively providing humanitarian aid to actively supporting Syria’s stabilization, early recovery and reconstruction.
Kallas said the Foreign Affairs Council would discuss the issue on Monday.
“But we are willing to do the steps on our side so that they are able to build up their country. Of course, you know, access to banking services, such things that they really need in the first phase. But to be very concrete, also next steps should be in relation to what they do. Everybody wants to see the steps going in the right direction,” she said.
Terrorism in Syria
On whether the EU would encourage its member states to repatriate Daesh members detained by PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the U.S.-backed YPG, to bring the terrorists to justice, Kallas said it was up to the member states.
“It is in the interest of everybody that there is no return of ISIS and the terrorism is diminished,” she said. “Because everybody, Türkiye as well as European Union, have risks in relation to terrorist organizations flourishing in our neighborhood.”
“When it comes to taking back their citizens, then, of course, it’s a decision of individual member states who have such prisoners and fighters in the prisons. So it is up to member states to decide.”
Most recently, France said it does not want its nationals detained in northeastern Syria for alleged Daesh membership to face trial in France and argued they should be tried in the nearest place to where the crimes were committed.
Palestine
Despite several venues of cooperation, Ankara and Brussels are at odds over Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip, which have killed at least 47,000 Palestinians in over 15 months, but they both welcomed the cease-fire deal that took effect on Sunday.
“The cease-fire continues, and the peace is important for the people. So these are the things that we can work with,” Kallas said.
Brussels will also soon convene the EU-Israel Association Council and hold a high-level political dialogue with the Palestinian Authority.
“I think it’s very important that we keep this two-state solution in mind,” Kallas said arguing that it needs to have a balanced approach.
“When it comes to the Association Council, then the item on the agenda is the regional situation, but also very concretely, the situation in Gaza. Right now, there is a cease-fire, but it’s in the interest of the European Union that there would be also more sustainable peace,” she said. “And in order to have that, that means that the security concerns of Israel need to be taken into account, but also that the Palestinians have their right to exist.”
Russia, NATO
Turning to the Russia-Ukraine war, Kallas said the pressure on Russia has to be increased “because Russia does not want peace right now.”
“If Russia stops bombing Ukraine, the people, the civilian infrastructure there and withdraws its troops, then this war will end. I also see that Türkiye has a very important role in pressuring Russia to have peace on the ground,” she noted.
On Donald Trump’s second term as U.S. president, Kallas said the EU’s main issues to be discussed with the White House are security and defense, but also economic issues.
The U.S. and European Union economies are very much intertwined, Kallas pointed out.
“And of course, on foreign policy issues, if the U.S. is worried about China, then they should first be worried about Russia. So supporting Ukraine, so that Ukraine can win this war, I think it’s also very important.”
When asked whether a European defense system separate from NATO should be established or if there was a risk of duplicating what NATO already does, Kallas said the latter should not happen.
“We have 27 armies in the European Union, and they should all contribute to having this collective defense that we cooperate with each other,” she said.
“So it’s not that we need a European army, but we need these 27 members to work together very well. When it comes to NATO and the European Union, there are 23 members we have in common with NATO, so that makes us natural partners as well. But of course, there are more allies in NATO that we need to work with, and Türkiye is one of them.”