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Crucial EU-Turkey summit in Varna amid tough talk on Greece, Cyprus, and Syria

The climate that will prevail today at the meeting of the EU leadership - namely Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk - with the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Varna, Bulgaria remains a great enigma.

This is because, while European leaders will move more or less along the line of decisions at the summit, no one is in a position to predict the positions that the Turkish president will adhere to.

The European Council sent a strong warning to Ankara that, in order to make progress in its relations with the EU, it must first of all prove that it respects international law. European leaders voiced concern over the Turkish invasion of Syria in Afrin, condemning Turkey's unlawful acts in Cyprus and the Aegean, while making explicit reference to the detention of the two Greek soldiers by demanding their release.

"The language with which the conclusions of the summit on Thursday evening are one of the most aggressive and sharp in the history of Euro-Turkish relations," a European official said in an interview with ANA-MPA news agency. However, although many believed that these conclusions could derail the Varna Summit, Ankara sidestepped it.

The Turkish president reacted in equally tough language, accusing Europe of siding with the Greeks and Cypriots, but avoided interrupting the prospect of a dialogue with the EU that may open up at the Varna meeting.

Stating that he does not receive lessons from the West, Erdogan even said he would come to the summit with videos that refute the accusations and criticisms against Ankara's military operations in Afrin.

According to SKAI correspondent Manolis Kostidis, Erdogan obviously means he has in his hands material proving that the Kurds act as a terrorist organization.

Erdogan also warned that no one has the right to play with the pride and dignity of the Turks. It is recalled that in a speech on Saturday in Samsun, the Turkish president launched an attack on everything, saying that "we will certainly build the great Turkey", threatening that "if we have to, we will give our lives. And if necessary, we will take lives. "