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Erdogan and NATO leverage
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is positioned as a key beneficiary of the geopolitical deal that brought the United States, Europe, and Turkey together while sidelining Greece, with the Ankara summit proceedings beginning in a few hours in Ankara.
“From 'Blue Homeland' to the Mehter choir, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent striking messages at the close of the NATO leaders' summit in Ankara on Wednesday, before addressing issues related to American sanctions, the F-35 fighters, and developments in the Middle East”
The Bankingnews account says Erdogan’s bargaining power is tied to Washington needing Turkey for a “new regional security architecture” and Europeans seeking Turkey’s defense industry and strategic geography.
It also cites Foreign Policy analysis that Erdogan’s top aims include a potential currency swap line, reintegration of Turkey into American defense industry supply chains, and enforcement of Turkey’s integration into a European Union defense procurement system “worth 150 billion euros (171 billion dollars).”
In the same account, the Russian factor is described as central to Turkey’s value to NATO’s architecture, including Turkey’s control of two strategically important maritime straits and its “maintenance of open channels of communication with Moscow and Tehran.”
Blue Homeland law vs Greece
The Al-Araby Al-Jadeed report says the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is preparing to submit to Parliament a draft bill called the Blue Homeland to approve legal protection for Turkey’s continental shelf and to strengthen Turkey’s claims in its territorial waters.
It adds that the AKP is expected to present the bill after the Eid al-Adha holiday, at the beginning of June, and push for its approval before the NATO summit.
The report states that under the Blue Homeland bill, Turkey will define six nautical miles as the territorial waters in the Aegean, while the bill states that the territorial waters in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean will be 12 nautical miles.
It also says the Turkish Foreign Ministry told that the Greek Directorate for Fisheries Surveillance published maps that were deemed to violate international law and imposed fishing bans in parts of the Aegean and the eastern
Erdogan’s NATO messages
At the close of the NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara on Wednesday, Al-Jazeera Net reports that Erdogan said, “For us, Blue Homeland is a very important issue, and we will continue to use this designation.”
“Summer Focus Seeking to reclaim its status as a leading power, Turkey places great importance on developing its defense industry, notably its naval sector, in support of its new maritime ambitions”
The same report says a bill of this name is being prepared to affirm Turkey’s rights and authorities in internal waters, territorial waters, the contiguous zone, the continental shelf, and the exclusive economic zone amid maritime disputes with Greece.
Al-Jazeera Net also reports Erdogan’s message on sanctions, saying most American sanctions “have already been lifted, and we do not face any problem in this regard.”
Finally, it says Erdogan called for lifting restrictions on the defense sector among NATO members and stated that Turkey allocated an additional $24 billion budget for its “Steel Dome” project to strengthen the alliance’s air and missile defenses.
