Barcin Yinanc: TURKEY’S RELATIONS WITH WEST UNDER THE SHADOW OF GAZA

Source:Anka Haber Date:05Dec2023

Ms Yinanc is one  of the last remaining froegin policy correspondants in Turkey, who remained impartial, rather than cowtowing to AKP.  She writes for independent newssite T24.com.tr

She comments:

GREEN LIGHT FOR CHRISTMAS?

Probably Ankara is still expecting a matching move from the Biden administration, which should officially notify Congress about its intention to sell the F-16s. As Turkey is a NATO country, if Congress failed to take action within 15 days, this would amount to an approval. Some pundits believe Washington is eyeing Christmastime to send its formal notification. Erdogan could then instruct his parliamentarians to go ahead with the vote.

and

Starting negotiations to update the Customs Union remains the bulk of the report. Yet negotiations between Ankara and Brussels continue on how to deal with the “trade irritants” issue. The European Commission wants Turkey to stop implementing measures that deviate from the Customs Union, before the start of negotiations — a request Ankara wants to fulfill at a later stage. Brussels and Ankara are said to be negotiating a compromise solution where Ankara could accept moving on certain sectors rather than eliminating all trade irritants.

Meanwhile, Greek Cyprus continues to insist on implementation of the Customs Union in a way that would open trade with the island, a pill Ankara would find hard to swallow.