

CoE Chair, Greek Minister Varvitsiotis: East-Med. Tension is due to Use of Military Force by Turkey

*Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/- There is No Dialogue with a Gun on the Table and War Threats, and the Reason for which there is Tension in Eastern Mediterranean's Energy Resources' Hotspot Nowadays, is Turkey's abuse of Military Force, Instead of Peaceful Negotiations, clearly Denounced CoE's President-in-office and Greek Minister for European Affairs, Miltiades Varvitsiotis, who was invited as Keynote Speaker at the PanEuropean Organisation of Strasbourg Assembly's Standing Committee, (of Equivalent Status as its Plenary), in Reply to Critical Questions raised by Turkish MPs.
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- At First, the rotating Chairman of CoE's Organisation for Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law (for the Period of 7 to 11/2020), Observed the Fact that, as a matter of General Principle ,"CoE is Not Dealing with Eastern Mediterranean Tensions".
+ Moreover, "there are Other Fora where we can Discuss that": F.ex., "We Expressed Our Views", Together "With Turkish Foreign Minister Mr. Cavusoglou, at EU Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Last Week" in Brussels, he noted, (pointing at a Meeting where Many MEPs appeared quite Critical vis a vis the Turkish MFA in this case).
- However, "Although" that's true, "I'd like to Reply to the Question (raised by a Turkish MP Today) on those Tensions", he Accepted.
>>> -In Fact, "the Tensions in Eastern Mediterranen are Not Provoked by Peaceful Events", Varvitsiotis observed. On the Contrary, "They are Provoked by the use of Military Force !"

- "And", particularly, "the Presence of a Great part of Turkish Naval Fleet in the Eastern Mediterranean, Escorting an (Oil/Gas) Exploratory Vessel", (Often, Notoriously, inside EU Members Cyprus or Greece's EEZ) "is, definitively, Not a Sign of promoting Stability, Security and a Peaceful Way of Negotiating with Partners in Good Will...", he Criticized.
- On the Contrary, -"We have Urged (Ankara) to Refrain from Unilateral Acts, in Areas that are Contested", (as, f.ex., illegal Search and/or Drilliing for Gas/Oil in Non-Delimitated Zones, Revendicated by Other Countries, which is tantamount with Violating the International Law of the Sea), "and to Go Back to the Table of Dialogue", Varvitsiotis invited.
- "This will remain Greece's Position, throughout this whole Period, Because We Believe that, with Partners and Neighbours, we Have to Discuss, and Not to Go at outrage...
- So that, Turkey "CanNot come Back to the Table of Discussion by having ...a fully Loaded Gun on the Table, and a Premisse, from the Other Side, that Either You Agree with Me, Or we Go into War !"
- "This is Not the Kind of Dialogue that We Expect. We Expect a Dialogue that comes With a Refrain from using a Beligerant Tone, and, Definitively, From using Military Means, as a way To Push for the Outcome that the Other Partner Wants".
- "Therefore, we Welcome all the Initiatives, from the EU, from Member States like Germany, from the USA, (etc) that Search for DesEscalation, and Return on a Table of Discussions", he Concluded.
Turkey has Already Chassed, by Bullying Threats from its WarShips, an Italian Drilling Ship of ENI, which Peacefully acted in Agreement with Cyprus' Government, inside that EU Member's EEZ, located Between the Southern Coasts of the Island and Egypt, one of the Countries with which Cyprus has Signed relevant Sea Zones' Delimitation Treaties, (as, inter alia, Also an Explicit Video, Audio-Registrations, and Ships' Movements' capture by Satellites, Clearly Showed earlier, During an EU Heads of State/Government Summit in Brussels).
But, Ankara, on the Contrary, did Not Dare make Any such Military Bullying Attempt vis a vis ...USA's or France's Drilling Ships there, which Operated also in Agreement with the legitimate Government of Cyprus...
But it has, Many Times, attempted to Block and/or Threatend with "NAFTEX" for Turkish WarShips so-called "Military Exercises", various Parts of EU Member Cyprus' EEZ, (near which it has Already Started to Find Important Energy Resources, as well as Egypt and Israel, etc., With whom Nicosia has Signed relevant Delimitation Agreements).
In Addition, Turkey has Notoriously Send, Numerous Times, its own Drilling Ships provocatively Inside EU Members' Greece and Cyprus' EEZ, escorted by a Heavy presence of Turkish WarShips and Military Planes, Both at the Mediterranean and in the Aegean Sea.
Last, but not least, various Ankara Government's Top Officials have Often abused of Multiple Provocations, Beligerant Rhetorics, and Even Brutal War Threats, especially Against Greece, in this same regard, (one of the Latest being, f.ex., the Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar's reported Call for "Greece to Shut Up", or, "Otherwise, ...Become a <<Mezes>> (be Eaten as Meat) !"
While, almost at the Same Time, just Last Week-End, Turkish President Tayip Erdogan "Warned" the French President Emmanuel Macron, "Not to Search Quarell with Turkey" (sic !), Accusing France for alleged "Massacres", and Even Approaching Dangerously ISIL's Deadly Terrorists' Propaganda accross Africa's Sahel, by Slandering a French and EU Anti-Islamist Terrorism presence at "Mali", since 2013...
They were Both Reacting Against a Call, by a joint Declaration of "MED-7" Summit's Heads of State/Governments (all EU Member States, linked to the Mediterranean), these Days at Corsica, (See : ..., etc), to "Reply to Turkey's Aggressions in the Mediterranean with All adequate Means of the EU", Unless it Really Commits to a Peaceful Dialogue and Legal ways to settle such Issues.
That "MED-7" Move came at the Eve of EU's Forthcoming Exceptional 27 Heads of State/Governmet Summit on September 24-25 in Brussels, mainly due to deal with Turkey's Behavior in Eastern Mediterranean, Aegan Sea and elsewhere vis a vis European interests, on the Occasion of which, Ankara has been Repeatedly Warned of Sanctions, unless it Sincerely Engages in a really Peaceful Dialogue for Solutions according also to International Law, (See:http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/med7summitincorsica.html).
- Meanwhile, in Parallel, the President of EU Parliament's Biggest Group, that of ChristianDemocrats/EPP, Manfred Weber from Germany, stressed Today, that "We Stand with Greece and Cyprus ! Europe should stay United and keep the Pressure on Erdogan in the EasternMediterranean. We will Not be Blackmailed at the the Border, we will Not be Provoked at Sea. We doN't want Conflict, But We will Not Back Away".
(../..)
("Draft-News")
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Ten Years of ECHR : 1998 - 2008 show need of Revival in 2009-2010 coinciding with 2009 EU Election
A threefold, coordinated move by new Top French Political actors in the 2009 EU Parliament Elections, expressed in Strasbourg a will to boost Europe's Political dimension close to Citizens' concerns, going from protection of Economy to defence of Human Rights.
The move met an exceptional ECHR's call for a "revival" of Human Rights' protection mechanism', in a Mega-Conference, early 2010.
Obviously focusing on June 2009 Elections to EU Parliament, it involved from the outset the recently nominated "dual" Head of French Governing Party (UMP) Michel BARNIER and Rachida DATI :

- "As President Sarkozy has clearly said, we (France) are in favor of a Strong, Sovereign and Independent, Political Europe, which protects its Citizens, and not for a large Super-Market, nor for a Europe under influence",
"This goes for everything, including Energy", added to "EuroFora" the experienced former EU Commissioner, Minister of Foreign affairs, currently of Agriculture and Sarkozy's new pick as Leader of the Governing party UMP to EU 2009 Election, Michel BARNIER .
- Human Rights are important because they are at the Heart of the Political Europe that we aspire for : I.e. a Europe able to act and protect its Citizens, stressed also the New French Minister for European affairs, Bruno LE MAIRE, while meeting Strasbourg's Journalists at his first visit to the CoE.
This is one of the main interests for CoE, which is also a natural place for cooperation between EU countries and Russia or Turkey, which was recently helpful at the Middle East crisis, he added.
The move gained momentum with French Minister of Justice, Rachida Dati's main observations at ECHR's 5Oth Anniversary :
- "While we are seeking Europe's Borders and Identity, you (ECHR) remind us also of its Values", Human Rights, Dati noted.
Citizens seek more and more often ECHR's help, and the tempo accelerates, Europa awaits a symbol, while national legal orders are not freezed
And she expressed "support" to ECHR President Jean-Paul Costa's call to satisfy the vital need to revigorate the PanEuropean Court by deciding big changes at a High-Level Conference open to a large audience, a kind of "Etats Generaux" of Human Rights, at the beginning of 2010.
It's not so much the recently growing number of applications for Russia or Ukraine etc, which seems to be Costa's main concern : In fact, the cases declared "admissible" are much fewer...
But rather the persistent violations of Human Rights, sometimes very grave (ie. murders, torture, abritrary deprivation of liberty, oppression of freedom of speech, destructions of homes/properties, etc), despite numerous, repeated condemnations by ECHR. So that CoE's Ministers, due to "supervise execution" of ECHR's judgements, are overloaded.
F.ex. most Media noted that Turkey still remains, even in 2008, the 1st among 47 CoE member States in the number of condemnations by ECHR : 257, compared to 233 for Russia, with a population more than the double..
The problem is that it's not the 1st time at all : During all the last Decade 1998-2008, Turkey was condemned by ECHR much more than any other State, and for particularly grave violations :
- 1.652 condemnations, compared to 605 for Russia, 548 for Poland, 494 for France, 476 for Ukraine, etc.
Italy's second place with 1.394 condemnations is a misleading false appearance : In fact, most of them (999) concern mere "procedural delays" in national courts. Same for France.
On the contrary, Turkey was condemned 180 times for Killings, 192 times for Torture or Inhuman/Degrading treatments, 340 times for arbitrary deprivation of Liberty, 528 times for "Unfair trial", and 169 times for oppression of Freedom of speech, (etc). And the latest, 2008 numbers, indicate no change in this trend, (See supra).
The current Spanish CoE Presidency (November 2008 - May 2009) has made of the implementation of ECHR's judgements its 1st Priority.
ECHR's President, Jean-Paul Costa, stressed in its 2009 Annual Press Conference, CoE Member States' obligation to implement the judgements, according to Article 46 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Moreover, if CoE's Committee of Ministers delays to ensure implementation, then, the repetition of violations in similar cases provokes a multiplication of complaints tabled to the Court, which overload the mecanism for the protection of Human Rights, denounced Costa.
A series of Debates on "the situation of Human Rights in Europe", focusing on the "need to fight against Impunity" of perpetrators of grave crimes, is currently prepared by CoE's Parliamentary Assembly for the session of June 2009.
The final Timing comes shortly AFTER the EU Elections, but the main Reports should have been adopted before.
Meanwhile, French President Sarkozy and German Chancelor Merkel's recent call "for a Political Europe" in 2009 EU Elections (See earlier "correspondence from Paris, Elysee Palace), seems more and more endorsed also by other EU Countries' Top MEPs :
Thus, f.ex., EU Parliament's 1st vice-President, Greek MEP Mrs Rodi KRATSA, speaking to "EuroFora", agreed that 2009 EU Election would be a "naturally good" opportunity to debate what really interests EU Citizens : "The Future of a Political Europe, able to face the Economic Crisis, with a Culture and identity which attracts the People"

(Photo taken earlier during Sarkozy's 1st visit at EU Parliament, in 2007 : Sarkozy and Merkel's Ideas for a Political Europe inspire also other EU politicians accross the continent)...