The 5 agreements signed by Sanchez and Erdogan – Athens dissatisfaction

LAST UPDATE: 17.30

The signing of five agreements was the result of the 7th Spanish-Turkish summit that took place on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 18 in Ankara, according to ERT. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, accompanied by six ministers from his government, was welcomed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On the one hand, Erdogan reaffirmed Spain’s support for a positive EU agenda. with Turkey, on the other hand, Sanchez left Ankara having signed 5 bilateral agreements: projects for renewable energy and water sources, cooperation for sports, science and cooperation for the fight against natural disasters.

The two leaders discussed economic and trade issues, the next NATO Summit in Spain in June 2022, the European Union’s relations with Turkey and the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa.

Spain and Turkey maintain strong economic relations that have improved in recent years, from a trade balance of 6.8 billion euros in 2010 to a record high of 13 billion euros in 2019. Similarly, the stock of Spanish investment in Turkey has increased from 906 million euros in 2007 to 5.3 billion euros in 2019 while there are more than 600 Spanish companies based in Turkey.

The two sides also agreed to boost cultural activities through the Cervantes Institute in Istanbul and the Yunus Emre Center in Madrid.

“We are two extremes of the Mediterranean, two highly symbolic regions. And our governments have been fighting together for years on the international stage to defend the values ​​of intercultural and interreligious dialogue,” said Pedro Sanchez, stressing support for both. aspects of the “Alliance of Cultures”, a United Nations-funded initiative to combat religious and cultural conflicts.

Protests by the Greek side

The Greek side has repeatedly raised the issue of exporting weapons systems of European countries to Turkey, according to diplomatic sources.

As they emphasize, this issue was raised by the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during the relevant discussion at the European Council in October 2020.

In this context, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias had sent a letter to his then Spanish counterpart Arancha González Laya in October 2020, reminding him of the obligation of the Member States of the European Union to respect Common Position 2008/944, which emphasizes that: “Member States are determined to prevent the export of military technology and equipment that could be used for internal repression or international aggression, or to contribute to regional destabilization.”