Pierini is a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, where his research focuses on developments in the Middle East and Turkey from a European perspective.
Marc Pierini is a visiting scholar 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.
Iran, Turkey, and Russia are deepening their footprints in the Middle East, while the United States’ role is becoming more uncertain. The EU must now confront this new geopolitical landscape.
Four big issues will dominate Turkey’s policy agenda this year. The net result is growing uncertainty about the country’s reliability among its Western allies.
The Turkish Stream pipeline will make Ankara more energy dependent on Moscow. It will also give Russia a bigger energy foothold in Europe.
President Erdogan is now projecting a foreign policy in which Turkey is described as being part of the solution to crises. In reality, it’s about winning foreign support to compensate for the mounting political and economic tensions at home.
Germany, the EU, and Turkey have a lot at stake in current economic, humanitarian, and rule-of-law crisis. Berlin wants to help, but not at any price.
The EU should continue to increase its support to human rights defenders, independent media and civil society. This is probably an even more arduous task than before the election.
Upcoming elections in Turkey will determine whether democracy in the country can rebound or will be replaced by one-man rule.
The latest standoff over energy resources in the Mediterranean illustrates the renewed risk of a military miscalculation in the region. More than ever before, diplomacy should prevail over saber rattling.
The course that Turkish leaders choose to follow in the Syrian war will have long-term consequences for their country and for the world.
Ankara’s latest military offensive in Syria and its domestic agenda are leading to a cul-de-sac with the EU.
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