Although EU-Turkey relations in recent years have centred on a tense standoff in the Eastern Mediterranean, both the EU and Turkey have developed other vectors of their foreign policy over the same time span.
Ankara has asserted its presence in the South Caucasus and the Middle East with the hopes of advancing its connectivity prospects on a wider Eurasian scale. Meanwhile, the EU has unveiled its Indo-Pacific strategy. France’s recently unveiled defence partnership with Greece suggests that its presidency of the European Council may be tense for EU-Turkey relations. But Paris’s prioritization of the Indo-Pacific region and the forthcoming release of the EU Strategic Compass demonstrate that European interests across Eurasia are multifaceted.
These developments highlight how the European neighbourhood increasingly forms but one part of a larger interstate system of supercontinental proportions. As Brussels and Ankara attempt to project their influence, what interests might they share on this wider geographic scale? To what extent can Eurasia-wide cooperation and a clearer Strategic Compass offset the potential for a renewed escalation of tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean? And what moves by either side are required to unlock the potential for deeper cooperation?
