In the capital, Ankara, she met with political leaders from the main opposition party, the CHP, the pro-Kurdish HDP and the national conservative Iyi party on Saturday. Baerbock received praise for his clear words to Turkey’s foreign minister.
“Direct statements and confrontations are sometimes unavoidable, not just necessary,” co-chair of the pro-Kurdish HDP party Mithat Sancar said after meeting Baerbock in Ankara. Cavusoglu always speaks very clear language at these meetings. This is the first time that his German counterpart has behaved so clearly. “That was good.”
Open confrontation with Cavusoglu
The joint press conference with Cavusoglu on Friday became an open confrontation over the expected Turkish offensive in northern Syria, the arrest of opposition leader Osman Kavala in Turkey and, above all, over the island dispute between Greece and Turkey.
Baerbock had already visited Athens and clearly sided with Greece in the dispute over Greek islands such as Rhodes, Kos and Lesbos in the eastern Mediterranean. Cavusoglu accused Germany of taking sides and not being a mediator like Chancellor Angela Merkel was.
The two also clashed over the issue of Syria. Baerbock warned Cavusoglu of a new offensive in the neighboring country. Ankara wants to fight the Kurdish YPG militia there, which the government considers a terrorist organization. Cavusoglu said it was a fight against terror and not a military operation.
Turkish mediation between Russia and Ukraine: Skeptical Sancar
Sancar called for consequences from the international community in the event of a Turkish military offensive in northern Syria. “Violation of international law must not go without consequences,” he stressed. It is “very dangerous to play with war plans. This could have “fatal consequences” and re-empower terrorist organizations such as the “Islamic State”. Let it be decided,” Sancar demanded. He didn’t say what measurements he meant.
Sancar expressed skepticism about Turkish mediation between Ukraine and Russia. The Turkish government is “in the Ukraine-Russia case a dove of peace, here in the region a hawk, a hawk of war,” he said.
When asked about his party’s ban on separatism, Sancar said he expected a ban before the June 2023 parliamentary and presidential elections because he didn’t believe in fair process.
The government accuses the party of being an extension of the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey, Europe and the United States. The HDP rejects this. Former party leader Selahattin Demirtas has been in prison on terrorism charges since 2016, although the European Court of Human Rights ordered the politician’s release in 2020.
Observers assume that six opposition parties will form an alliance and nominate a common candidate for elections scheduled for June 2023. Then Parliament and the President are elected at the same time.
The opposition then hopes to replace President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in power for nearly 20 years. Polls for Erdogan and his conservative party in the Islamic government, the AKP, have dropped recently. According to a survey by the Metropoll Institute, the AKP would not have won an absolute majority in the current alliance with the ultranationalist MHP party in the June elections. Erdogan’s popularity is also falling. In a Metropoll poll published two days ago, about 54% of respondents thought Erdogan was not doing a good job as president. The dominant topic in Turkey at the moment is the weakening economy with massive inflation officially around 80%.