The European Union’s relations with Turkey were mentioned last night by the Commission Vice-President for Protecting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, during a discussion at the 8th Development Conference, co-organized in Patras by newspaper “Peloponnisos” and Western Greece.
In particular, regarding the European Union’s relations with Turkey, he said that the broader framework of Euro-Turkish relations is in flux and not in the responsibility of Europe.
“The limits of this flux need to be clarified and tomorrow’s directions need to be very clear: How are we going to live together, how can we manage issues such as immigration and counterterrorism, how are we going to cohabit in the peripheral region that reaches the Eastern Mediterranean, Libya, North Africa, what opportunities will Turkey have in the long run to maintain a pre-accession perspective and how compatible that perspective will be with actions such as illegal drilling and Hagia Sophia.”
It is recalled that yesterday the Supreme Court of Turkey announced that the current Turkish head of state had the right to decide whether to change Kemal Ataturk’s 1934 decree on the status of Hagia Sophia as a museum or not.
The Supreme Court ruled that it was a legitimate decision to protect the museum status of Hagia Sophia, but noted that a presidential decree was enough to change it.
