Honourable senators, I rise today to speak about a motion I tabled calling for the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade to be authorized to examine and report on Turkey’s increased aggression and acts against international law, including but not limited to the exclusive economic zone of Greece and other nations in the Mediterranean under the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, when and if the committee is formed, and that the committee submit its final report no later than March 28, 2021.

In the time since Recep Erdoğan became the President of Turkey, and especially after the orchestrated coup attempt in July 2016, Turkey has become a rogue state, constantly violating the norms of international law and fuelling conflicts within the immediate region and abroad. It is no secret that Turkey is a country built on the ashes of crimes against humanity, having committed one of the worst genocides in history against the Armenian, Greek and Syrian peoples toward the end of the First World War that continued until 1923. Throughout the decades, Turkey witnessed a drastic transformation in its political culture and socialization, attempting to become a secular nation and a Western ally. While it would be naive to believe that Turkey was ever fit to become a Western ally, the geopolitical considerations of the Cold War anchored Ankara as a NATO member and one that could cooperate with Western nations.

However, the reality of Turkey is much different, and today, thanks to the acts of its dictator, President Erdoğan, we are witnessing the real face of this Turkish government, one that is brazenly undemocratic and unwilling to position itself as a positive force on the global stage. Over the last few years, we have witnessed a number of situations where Turkey has played either a destabilizing role in its immediate region or has been the sole instigator of conflicts and atrocities, building on the criminal resumé of its Ottoman past. With extensive geopolitical ambitions much above its capabilities, Turkey has effectively become a pariah nation threatening the global order while constantly violating international law.

Since 2018, Turkey has been actively meddling in issues outside of its maritime jurisdictions by attempting to contain the full rights of the Greek and Cypriot governments to search for natural gas within their own waters. This standoff, initiated and exacerbated by Turkey, is continuing to this day —