Pierini is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, where his research focuses on developments in the Middle East and Turkey from a European perspective.
Marc Pierini is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, where his research focuses on developments in the Middle East and Turkey from a European perspective.
Pierini was a career EU diplomat from December 1976 to April 2012. He was EU ambassador and head of delegation to Turkey (2006–2011) and ambassador to Tunisia and Libya (2002–2006), Syria (1998–2002), and Morocco (1991–1995). He also served as the first coordinator for the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, or the Barcelona Process, from 1995 to 1998 and was the main negotiator for the release of the Bulgarian hostages from Libya from 2004 to 2007.
Pierini served as counselor in the cabinet of two European commissioners: Claude Cheysson, from 1979 to 1981, and Abel Matutes, from 1989 to 1991. He has published three essays in French: “Le prix de la liberté,” “Télégrammes diplomatiques,” and “Où va la Turquie?.”
Pierini is a member of the International Council of the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations in Marseille.
Driven by domestic considerations, Turkey has triggered a major crisis inside NATO by blocking the Finnish and Swedish membership bids. This move inevitably plays into the hands of the Kremlin.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will have profound consequences for the stability of the region and for the future of European security, not to mention the immense human suffering. We asked Carnegie Europe’s scholars to give their assessment about how the military attack will fundamentally change the post-Cold War era.
Ankara’s drone sales to Kiev have angered Moscow. A military escalation in and around Ukraine would endanger Turkey’s relationship with Russia, impair its participation in NATO operations, or both.
To avoid an open rule-of-law dialogue with the EU, Turkey is being selective in its areas of engagement with the bloc. The union must make clear that compartmentalizing EU-Turkey relations to suit Ankara’s domestic political convenience is not acceptable.
With twenty months left until Turkey’s legislative and presidential elections, the political debate will be fierce. The West may choose to sit it out rather than see its relationship with Ankara deteriorate even further.
At the NATO summit, President Biden will have to deal with Donald Trump’s pernicious legacy. The biggest challenges include Russia and Turkey, both of which have undermined the alliance solidarity.
Biden’s recognition of the killing and deportation of Armenians as genocide has caused outrage in Turkey. Dealing with a nation’s past is immensely complex. It can only be done by a country’s leaders and citizens.
Ankara’s goal in dealing with Europe is to limit the future agenda to trade, economic matters, and refugee arrangements. In a diminishing space for civil society, academic freedom, and human rights, EU leaders are divided over what strategy to pursue with Turkey.
The era of European benevolence and benign neglect with Ankara is over; Turkey is now openly adversarial toward the entire European Union and NATO. It’s time for the EU to clarify its response.
Turkey’s leadership is fueling a dangerous maritime dispute with Greece and Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean. The EU must pursue dialogue while resisting Ankara’s attempts to bully its way forward.
Sign up to receive Judy Dempsey’s Strategic Europe updates in your inbox!