The “provocative intention of Turkey to apply for membership in the BRICS“, but also the “introduction and teaching of the revisionist narrative about the “Blue Homeland” in its textbooks”, he points out in his written question to the European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Joseph Borelthe MEP and former president of ND, Vangelis Meimarakis. And he asks to be informed of the way in which he intends to address “these two key issues, in the context of the High Level Dialogue between the EU and Turkey, a country that is a candidate for EU membership and a member of NATO”.

Specifically, Mr. Meimarakis, with his question, informs the European Commission that “recently, among other things, two worrying developments have arisen in relation to Turkey” and explaining, he adds: On the one hand, its intention to apply for membership in the BRICS and on the other hand, the introduction and teaching, in school books, of the revisionist narrative about the “Blue Homeland”which violates international obligations towards its neighbors”.

Continuing after stating that “h Turkey is a candidate country for EU membership – with an association agreement and a customs union – but is also a member of NATO” and that it “still expresses a strong interest in joining the EU”, he wonders “how this is compatible with BRICS membership, considering their conflicting interests with the EU and NATO.”

“At the same time”, adds Mr. Meimarakis, “the narrative of the “Blue Homeland” is a one-sided and revisionist theory”, underlining that “it is a narrative that violates the sovereign rights of Greece and Cyprus based on the Convention on the Law of the Sea and has led to the illegal Turkish-Libyan memorandum […] which undermines the EU’s energy projects in the Eastern Mediterranean and may become a source of conflict with the EU and two of its member states” and “in addition, it is a narrative that will create a false perception among Turkish new generations about history and obligations of Turkey, which instead of building trust will undermine relations and create hostility among the peoples of the region.”

For the above reasons, it asks the European Commission about “how it intends to deal with the above two key issues in the context of the EU-Turkey high-level structural dialogue but also based on Turkey’s legal obligations in relation to the EU” and about “how intends to counter the digital diplomacy that Turkey has developed through social media, which reinforces the narrative of the “Blue Homeland” beyond Turkish borders.”