Turkey and Germany positive for a Union for the Mediterranean
Aylin D. Miller
Designated German Finance Minister and Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the SPD (3R), German Chancellor Angela Merkel of the CDU (C) and German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer of the CSU (5R) pose with the coalition treaty of the conservative CDU/CSU party and the Social Democrats to form a new government flanked by parliamentary group leader of the Social Democrats (SPD) Andrea Nahles, parliamentary group leaders of the Christian democrats (CDU) Volker Kauder and of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) Alexander Dobrindt General, Secretary of the CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Secretary General of the CSU Andreas Scheuer in Berlin, on March 12, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / John MACDOUGALL (Photo credit should read JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images)
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Turkey’s foreign minister said Ankara would play an active role in the new grouping despite initial fears that Sarkozy devised it as an alternative to Turkish EU membership, which he has long opposed.
“Regarding the initiative of a Union for the Mediterranean, we think it will promote peace, stability and development in the region, and Turkey supports this initiative,” Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told a news conference.
Babacan said Ankara’s role would be the same as in the existing Euro-Mediterranean partnership, known as the Barcelona process, which France says needs revitalising.
