The tenor of relations between Ankara and Berlin could have broader effects on Turkey’s relationship with the West, particularly Washington. Germany on Tuesday cautioned Turkey against its "cycle of detente and provocation" in the Eastern Mediterranean. But the powerful Turkish religious organisation rejected the charges, telling AFP that it has never championed such messages. However, in light of their history of close relations, the volume of stable economic … History teaches that the best way to deal with Russia is to keep intervention to a minimum and wait for its internal troubles to bring about its collapse. A corruption scandal involving sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation against whistleblowers, and lots of business-class travel has gripped the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). On August 2,1914, Germany and Turkey signed the following secret treaty, meant to go into effect in the event of war between Germany and Russia. The Oslo diplomatic process is the starkest strategic blunder in Israel’s history and one of the worst calamities ever to have afflicted Israelis and Palestinians. He said Athens would "emphatically" raise the dispute at a European council meeting starting Thursday. In Washington, where a bitter debate is unfolding over Trump’s Middle East policy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened war with Turkey, a NATO ally and major regional military power. Kramp-Karrenbauer is to argue for her proposal at tomorrow’s NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels. They also stopped German parliamentarians from visiting German forces stationed in Turkey as part of NATO’s activities against ISIS. For the first time since the fall of the Nazis in 1945, Berlin is proposing an international military operation; previously, it supported wars launched by Washington, Paris or other powers. The tensions that have arisen between the two nations have been conspicuously manifesting themselves. Germany will be holding elections this month, and strains with Turkey appear to be getting worse.

The European Union could soon see a new conflict erupt within its borders if tensions between Turkey and Greece are not pushed into deescalation.

Asked for his reaction to the Turkish military offensive against the Kurds, Pompeo replied: “We prefer peace to war. As a trade war escalates between Washington and the EU, with threats of billions of dollars in trade war tariffs on both sides, US-EU geostrategic divisions are also widening.

Berlin’s proposal for EU military occupation of northern Syria is, no less than Pompeo’s open threat of all-out war with Turkey, a call for a vast escalation of imperialist violence in the Middle East. "(Greece) will not sit at the table for exploratory talks while the Oruc Reis and escorting warships are out there," Minister of State George Gerapetritis told Parapolitika radio. In addition, geopolitical fluctuations and Washington’s enduring weakness in the Middle East have prompted Ankara to warm its relations with countries such as Russia, Iran, and Qatar, a shift that can have a great impact on Turkey’s energy ambitions and economic needs. In the wake of the failed coup attempt against him last year, Turkish President Erdoğan has sought to consolidate his status and convey a message of unity under the banner of democracy against “Turkey’s enemies at home and abroad.” In practice, however, Turkey is experiencing profound internal upheaval. "Ankara must end the cycle of detente and provocation if the government is interested in talks," said Maas, whose country heads the rotating presidency of the European Union.

Ankara is at odds with the US, its main NATO partner, over the latter’s tactical cooperation with Kurdish forces in Syria – forces the Turkish government sees as an operational arm of the PKK and a threat to Turkey’s national security. However, German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle interviewed Ruslan Mamedov of the Russian Council for Foreign Policy think-tank, who bluntly declared: “The official Russian position is that all foreign troops must leave Syria. Merkel said, “We had a very long, detailed discussion about our relations with Turkey. Marking Moscow’s distance from Washington and its European allies who had troops in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared: “We do not particularly look at the United States and its stance. Twenty three years after its euphoric launch on the White House lawn, the Oslo ‘peace process’ has substantially worsened the position of both parties, and made the prospects for peace and reconciliation ever more remote. I do not believe any sort of safe zone under the joint control of EU countries and Russia will develop.”.

Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas … An interesting rapprochement, meanwhile, has been forged between Turkey and Iran, which was expressed in the Iranian chief-of-staff’s recent extraordinary visit to Ankara. One recent essay from the US Brookings Institution think tank complained: “The prospect of lucrative reconstruction deals has triggered a deluge of interest from governments and firms looking to profit from Syria’s devastation. Germany seeks to mediate between Greece and Turkey, two neighbors and members of NATO. Kramp-Karrenbauer’s remarks show that this buildup aims not to make Europe safe for democracy against foreign invasion, but to prepare the EU powers to wage their own neocolonial wars in oil-rich regions key to their strategic interests. The tension marks a stark contrast to normal times, before the coup attempt and its aftermath, when Berlin adopted a pragmatic line towards Ankara in relation to the EU and maintained deep political ties with it. The resulting agreement, subsequently approved by Assad after a telephone conversation with Putin, divides the Syrian-Turkish border into zones patrolled by Turkish troops, along which military action against Kurdish fighters may continue if they do not leave, and an area jointly held by Syrian border guards and Russian military police. Investment companies on both sides recognize the economic damage that can be caused by crises like this, and hope the hostility between the countries will pass immediately after the German elections. Collectively, the EU powers have pledged to pour hundreds of billions of euros into their militaries over the coming years. Ankara’s ability to influence the Turkish diaspora living in Germany, its cooperation in the fight against ISIS, and its capacity to assist Europe on the refugee crisis and other political issues like the conflict in Cyprus could lead to a channel of dialogue. That stance is quite variable and contradictory, and of course, the coalition led by the United States is in Syria illegally. Germany on Tuesday cautioned Turkey against its "cycle of detente and provocation" in the Eastern Mediterranean. However, the EU powers also view the defeat of NATO’s Islamist and Kurdish proxies in Syria, and the victory of the Russian-backed Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, as a threat to their strategic interests and world position. One would have to look at it,” he said. “It is a new initiative, there is no clear position on it. The hasty retreat of the remaining US troops from northern Syria is now leading to an outpouring of protests. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking economic sanctions to restrain Erdoğan. “Turkey has always supported dialogue with Greece and has been in favor of resolving problems through diplomacy, not conflict.” Germany’s foreign minister appealed to NATO allies Greece and Turkey on Tuesday to enter a dialogue and de-escalate military tensions in the … But these figures, while reflecting official direct US military aid, are almost meaningless in comparison to the real costs and benefits of US military aid – above all, American boots on the ground. “My proposal is that we would set up an internationally controlled safe zone, involving Turkey and Russia,” she said. Germany slams Turkey for sending survey ship to eastern Mediterranean ... calling the unilateral move a blow to efforts to start negotiations in the conflict.

It is not clear what benefit Erdoğan sees from this rapprochement, because strengthening Iran and cozying up to Russia at the West’s expense might harm Turkey’s ability to influence Syria’s political future.