{"id":11317,"date":"2026-06-17T17:26:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=11317"},"modified":"2026-06-17T17:26:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:26:00","slug":"manolis-kefalogiannis-the-report-on-turkey-condemns-the-casus-belli-and-the-blue-homeland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=11317","title":{"rendered":"Manolis Kefalogiannis: The report on Turkey condemns the casus belli and the \u201cBlue Homeland\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

A stern message to Ankara <\/b>was delivered from the floor of the European Parliament<\/b> by Manolis Kefalogiannis<\/b>.<\/p>\n

In his remarks during the debate on the Progress Report<\/b> on the accession process of Turkey<\/strong>, <\/strong>in the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the MEP from New Democracy and the EPP,\u00a0Manolis K. Kefalogiannis<\/strong>, as Chair of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee – Turkey, stated, \u201cThe Report on Turkey sends three clear messages regarding peace and security in the southeastern Mediterranean<\/b>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst<\/b>, the casus belli<\/b>. There can be no threat of war against a member state of the European Union. This is contrary to the European acquis. It flagrantly violates the Charter of the United Nations (Article 2, paragraph 4). <\/p>\n

Second<\/b>, Greece has the inalienable right to unilaterally extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles<\/b>, as defined in Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.<\/p>\n

Thirdly<\/b>, the Report condemns the theory of the \u201cBlue Homeland\u201d<\/b>. It condemns any attempt to legislate it. It rejects any action that challenges the sovereignty of European Union member states,\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n

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View this post on Instagram.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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This post was shared by Manolis Kefalogiannis (@kefalogiannis_manolis)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

See HERE the report<\/strong><\/p>\n

More specifically, as highlighted in the report, \u201cdespite repeated statements by the Turkish government reaffirming its commitment to EU accession,\u00a0fundamental shortcomings that affect the accession process<\/strong> remain unresolved, the Parliament notes. \u201cMEPs call on the Turkish government to take measures to address persistent shortcomings in the areas of the rule of law, human rights, democratic standards, press freedom, and other fundamental freedoms, and to respect good-neighborly relations and international law.\u201d<\/p>\n

With regard to Turkey\u2019s relations with Greece and Cyprus, as well as its role in the broader Eastern Mediterranean region, the report included extensive references as early as the vote at the parliamentary committee level (the report was published in April 2026), including unequivocal condemnation of the ongoing occupation of Cyprus and Turkey\u2019s violation of the sovereign rights of EU member states<\/strong>. Among other amendmentsamendments adopted, during the plenary vote, an explicit reference to Greece\u2019s legal right to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, while the content relating to Greece\u2019s zones of national sovereignty and Turkey\u2019s violations of them was also expanded.<\/p>\n

The report criticizes the limited response of other EU institutions and many member states to developments in Turkey, calling on them to adopt a stronger stance in defense of democratic standards and the rule of law. Although Turkey\u2019s accession process has essentially been at a standstill since 2018, the country continues to be regarded as a NATO ally of strategic and geopolitical importance<\/strong>. However, MEPs emphasize that, while the EU\u2019s enlargement policy is regaining momentum, Turkey appears to be missing this opportunity due to a lack of democratic reforms, as noted in the relevant resolution, which was adopted with 381 votes in favor, 107 against, and 171 abstentions.<\/p>\n

As stated by the report\u2019s rapporteur,\u00a0MEP Sancho Nachez Amor<\/strong>, \u201cTurkey continues to move rapidly toward a fully authoritarian model. The recent case targeting the main opposition party, the CHP, and its legitimate leadership, is the most recent example of a broader erosion of democratic pluralism and the rule of law, highlighting the role of a judiciary that is being instrumentalized for political purposes.<\/p>\n

Faced with such a serious situation, we are deeply concernedby the lackluster response of the Commission, the EDPO <\/b>and the member states, which continue to turn a blind eye to the ongoing dismantling of democracy in Turkey. This silence undermines the EU\u2019s image and credibility andfurther alienates the most pro-European and pro-democratic segments of Turkish society, with consequences that may take years to reverse.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Manolis Kefalogiannis delivered a stern message to Ankara from the floor of the European Parliament.
\nIn his remarks during the debate on …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}