Turkey has been a candidate to join the EU for more than 15 years, but its membership quest is at a standstill. Tensions are high over Ankara’s role in the conflicts in Syria and Libya, the divided island of Cyprus — an EU member country — and its energy exploration in the Mediterranean Sea. But the EU relies heavily on Turkey to stop migrants from entering its borders. The EU has paid billions of euros in refugee support for Ankara to halt the flow, and it has worked. At a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said they would discuss a joint “migration declaration” that Turkey is proposing and prepare for a conference on developments in the eastern Mediterranean, where Turkish and Greek warships have faced off.

Source: Libya Today January 21, 2021 13:07 UTC