"An outrage after von der Leyen grouped Turkey to a sinister axis with Russia and China"

The Turkish Government and any Members of the European Parliament criticised the fresh statements of the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday, suggesting that Europe should not be affected by Russia, Turkey or China – calling it those misleading and dividing statements.

Von der Leyen on Monday freely associated NATO associate Turkey with China and Russia as sinister influences on the continent, which runs counter to the fact that the EU relied on Turkey as a key diplomatic function in the war in Ukraine and in accepting war refugees from the mediate East.

In her statements she declared that the EU "must win in completing the European continent so that it is not influenced by Russia, Turkey or China."

She then called on Europe to "think Broader and more geopolitically", on the departure of the continent from inexpensive Russian energy and low-budget Chinese labour. She advocated greater independency of Europe, besides in the face of tensions with the Trump administration.

Parliamentarians from the Left Group in the European Parliament, including Belgian members Rudi Kennes and Marc Boteng, sided with Turkey and powerfully criticized these statements as "both inaccurate and very strange," stressing that Turkey is NATO's ally and maintains multifaceted relations with the European Union.

"Turkey is inactive officially a candidate for EU membership" – Officials noticed. "This kind of message divides the planet into 'us' and 'others' as if there existed some purity test and as if there was an intention to control the remainder of the continent," Boteng said.

Botenga besides warned that presenting global relations as "friends versus enemies" carries a serious hazard to global stability. 1 origin besides highlighted why Brussels rapidly tried to repair the harm during the EU press conference .

This fast explanation highlights Brussels' awareness of sensitivity. Turkey remains a key partner on many fronts: migration management, Black Sea security, energy transport and regional stability. However, this episode reveals hidden concerns in the EU's circles about Turkey's independent abroad policy, especially at a time erstwhile any voices in Ankara are openly seeking alternatives to conventional Western directions.

Indeed, there was a small fast retreat in the choice of words and rhetoric...

Nevertheless, the elephant in peace is that Turkey is simply a decisively geopolitical Euro-Asian exception – on the 1 hand, it has a second-largest army in NATO and, on the another hand, it frequently does things contrary to the interests of NATO and the EU, for example, it is approaching Moscow on key issues.

Translated by Google Translator

source:https://www.zerohedge.com/