Turkey Hopes to Launch New Round of Talks with Greece

Turkish drilling vessel Yavuz is escorted by Turkish Navy frigate TCG Gemlik (F-492) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea off Cyprus (File Photo: Reuters)
Turkish drilling vessel Yavuz is escorted by Turkish Navy frigate TCG Gemlik (F-492) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea off Cyprus (File Photo: Reuters)
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Turkey Hopes to Launch New Round of Talks with Greece

Turkish drilling vessel Yavuz is escorted by Turkish Navy frigate TCG Gemlik (F-492) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea off Cyprus (File Photo: Reuters)
Turkish drilling vessel Yavuz is escorted by Turkish Navy frigate TCG Gemlik (F-492) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea off Cyprus (File Photo: Reuters)

Turkey has announced plans to hold a new round of talks with Greece in Ankara to reduce tension in the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea.

Turkey’s Defense Minister, Hulusi Akar, said Friday that Turkish and Greek officials will meet in Ankara in the coming days to address issues that have led to rising tensions.

Akar said that his country will not neglect its rights in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean, stressing that “Cypriots are our brothers.”

“We are ready to do whatever it takes to protect the rights and interests of our Cypriot brothers there.”

Turkey and its armed forces will not neglect their rights and the rights of Northern Cyprus, said Akar, adding that any solution that excludes Ankara and the Turkish side of the divided island is doomed to fail.

In response, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias accused the Turkish leadership of seeking to return to the days of the “Ottoman empire,” noting that his country asked the European Union to impose sanctions on Turkey if it continues its violations in the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea.

Dendias indicated that his country does not refuse to negotiate with Turkey but there currently isn’t a path for negotiation, and Athens cannot negotiate under threat.

The FM was responding to Ankara's announcement that it could pause energy-exploration operations in the eastern Mediterranean for a while pending talks with Greece.

In a move that confirms Ankara’s aim to avoid any clash with Greece, the Turkish ship, Barbaros Hayreddin Pasa, arrived off the coast of Northern Cyprus to continue exploration activities.

The vessel will support ships Tanux-1 and Apollo Moon conduct seismic research activity in accordance with international law in Zone F, which falls within sectors 2 and 3, which Cyprus has defined as part of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The European Union opposes Turkey's exploration activities off the coast of Cyprus, its member state, and believes these activities are illegal which could lead to the imposition of a symbolic sanctions package on Ankara if it continues its violations.

Meanwhile, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said he believes that a Turkish accession to the EU is impossible within the next 15 to 20 years.

Asselborn told the German daily, Die Welt, that the significant violations of human rights in Turkey are the reason why a Turkish accession to the EU in the near future seems far from reality.

However, the FM stated that the entry negotiations should not be completely halted, adding that the last municipal elections seem to prove a significant presence of a democratic movement, noting that he does not wish to take people’s hope away.

Negotiations between Turkey and the EU started in 2005, but they have been frozen since 2012.



US Lawmakers’ Bipartisan Taiwan Visit Signals Support Despite Harsh Words and Tariffs from Trump

 US Senator Pete Ricketts, right, and Chris Coons are interviewed by the Associated Press in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
US Senator Pete Ricketts, right, and Chris Coons are interviewed by the Associated Press in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
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US Lawmakers’ Bipartisan Taiwan Visit Signals Support Despite Harsh Words and Tariffs from Trump

 US Senator Pete Ricketts, right, and Chris Coons are interviewed by the Associated Press in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
US Senator Pete Ricketts, right, and Chris Coons are interviewed by the Associated Press in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)

Republican and Democratic lawmakers made their first trip to Taiwan under the new Trump administration a bipartisan one, aiming to show both Taiwan and China that US support for Taiwan's defense remains broad, despite the harsh words and harsh tariffs President Donald Trump has had for the Taiwanese.

Taiwan's leaders so far in this week's trip by two Republican and one Democratic senator are messaging back just as hard, assuring the Republican US administration that they have taken in Trump's complaints and are acting on them.

Many Asia-Pacific nations are eschewing the retaliatory criticism and tariffs of some of the US's European allies after Trump earlier this month slapped broad tariffs on many countries around the world, including a 32% one for Taiwan.

Despite that hit, conversations in Taiwan this week were “optimistic and forward-looking,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons said in Taipei. “And I'm optimistic that we're going to see a strong next chapter in US-Taiwan relations.”

That includes assurances from the Taiwanese that they are working fast to strike new trade and investment deals that suit the Trump administration, on top of the advanced-semiconductor giant's $100 billion investment this year alone in chip production in the US.

Taking all the lessons from Ukraine in its defense against Russia and criticism from Trump, Taiwan also says it is investing fast to make their military stronger, nimbler and less dependent on the US, as the island's strongest deterrent against China, the US lawmakers said. That includes seeking investment with Americans on drone warfare.

Sens. Pete Ricketts and Coons, the ranking Republican and Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's East Asia subcommittee, spoke ahead of scheduled talks Friday with President Lai Ching-te, Defense Minister Wellington Koo and national security adviser Joseph Wu. Republican Sen. Ted Budd also is on the trip.

The mission comes at a time that an economy-shaking trade war between the US and China has some warning that China could strike out at Taiwan, a self-governed island with a vibrant democracy and the world's top production of the most advanced semiconductors. China claims Taiwan as its territory, to be retaken by force if necessary.

Trump has repeatedly accused Taiwan of “stealing” the United States’ computer chip industry. His criticism of Taiwan, and his insistence last year that “Taiwan should pay us” for its defense, have heightened concern that the US, Taiwan’s strongest military partner, might decide not to get too involved if China were ever to attack Taiwan.

The 32% tariffs on Taiwan included in Trump’s sweeping new tariffs on trade partners this month surprised many Taiwanese, who thought that their government had shown itself a true ally to Washington.

“Look past the rhetoric and look at the action,” Ricketts said, repeating a watchword of the Republicans on Trump’s statements.

After saying he was in no rush to finish trade deals, the president said he thought he could wrap up talks “over the next three or four weeks.”

Ricketts cited the priority that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has placed on helping the Asia-Pacific secure itself against China. That included making the region one of the first he visited in office, Ricketts said.

Ricketts said Taiwan's leaders already had reached out to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for negotiations, moving quickly in the 90-day pause that Trump announced before the United States starts enforcing the new tariffs on most countries.

Lai, Taiwan's president, has pledged to increase Taiwan's military spending to 3% of its gross domestic product, up from about 2.5%, bringing it up to nearly a fifth of its overall budget. Taiwan also is talking to Americans about partnerships in producing drones, part of taking a lesson from Ukraine in its defense against Russia in emphasizing fleet fighting forces working with portable Stingers, lawmakers said.

Taiwan's own defense industry is also producing advanced weapons from submarines to small arms and anti-air missiles.

“Of course, there is the possibility that Xi Jinping would decide that this is the right time for the Chinese Communist Party to take aggressive action,” Coons said of the Chinese president.

“I think it’s exactly the wrong thing for them to do,” Coons said. “I think they would find a forceful and united response.”