The dividing line between Brussels and Ankara remains a deep one, Georgi Dimov, former consul general of Bulgaria in Edirne, told FOCUS Radio’ Good Morning Bulgaria.
Despite good manners during the visit of Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim to Athens and Turkey’s attempt to receive support regarding the EU, Ankara remains far from achieving its goals, he said. “Greece defended itself and its Euro-Atlantic interests by refusing to extradite the Turkish military men,” he added.
He made comparisons between Yildirim’s visit to Greece and the visit of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to Turkey. Common aspects are the EU, Gulenists and energy. The differences are the Cyprus problem, accidents in Aegean Sea and protocol dissimilarities between the visits. The Bulgarian visit to Turkey was entirely official, while the one to Greece included an unofficial part.
According to Dimov, there are no prospects for a warming in relations between Ankara and Berlin in the near future due to differences on too many issues.
"Almost a year after the failed coup d'état in Turkey, the situation remains unchanged - the purges and controversies within the country will continue," he forecast./FOCUS News Agency/