Europe and the Turkish threats .. Has Ankara become the "greatest danger"?





Amidst the Turkish-European controversy and awaiting the EU summit, voices from Britain are warning that Turkey poses the greatest danger to Europe currently, with the escalation of Turkish moves in the eastern Mediterranean.

The criticism came from the former Minister of State for European Affairs in Britain, Dennis McShane, who criticized regional provocations and the policy pursued by the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Turkey is the biggest threat to Europe in terms of foreign power threatening the territory of the European Union," MacShane said in an interview with "Sky News Arabia".


He added, "Turkey threatens all the values ​​that Europe seeks to show, for example when a journalist is subjected to harassment and threats, such as what happens to journalists inside Turkey, it is unacceptable, especially for a country close to Europe."

The British newspaper, The Independent, had published an opinion piece by the former Minister of State for European Affairs in the British Foreign Office, criticizing regional provocations and the policy pursued by the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reviewing his expectations for the outcomes of the EU leaders ’summit, which is scheduled to be held later this week. To discuss the response to these provocations.

In his article, McShane described Turkey as "the biggest threat to Europe - in terms of a foreign power threatening the territory of the European Union and which also threatens all the values ​​that Europe seeks to demonstrate."


He added, "Former French President Francois Hollande spoke in Athens last week about his concerns about Turkey.

For Holland, Erdogan, now known in diplomatic circles as "the Sultan," poses a threat to Europe. He is the one who led Turkey to economic ruin, and he is now beating the drums of nationalism and calling for the restoration of the glories of the Ottoman Empire, in order to divert the public's attention from the growing economic problems in Turkey.


MacShane notes that Holland's indictment included several files against Erdogan; The latter seeks to militarize the eastern Mediterranean, as it has violated NATO's commitments to purchase Russian missiles, and imprisoned hundreds of journalists and political opponents. Erdogan is also obsessed with Islamism and promotes it in Europe, and he converted two of the finest Christian Byzantine cathedrals in Istanbul into mosques. It blatantly interferes in the politics of European countries, including France and Germany, as it holds huge political rallies and insists that the Turkish citizens of the European Union owe loyalty only to Turkey; In addition, his adventures in Syria and his war against the Kurds are dangerous, just as his intervention in Libya is an act of aggression.

McShane notes in his article that Hollande's stances towards Turkey correspond to the likes of the Greek ministers who attended the meetings of the former French president. However, the Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, insists that Greece wants to work with Erdogan, but only after the Turkish threat against the Greek islands has been lifted.