Ottoman-Spanish Summit, 2020
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"Your excellency!"
"Yessss.....", hissed the Yeghoyan, clearly annoyed.
"You're late, do you have everything ready?"
"I don't know, do I? I didn't think I was the one that had to do all the preparations. I thought that was up to the planners."
"No time for that, let's just get you to be presentable."
"Your excellency,"
A suited man waltzed into the room, carrying a leather binder. He then placed it on the conference desk, next to Yeghoyan.
"What is that?", said the Grand Vizier
"It's your notes for that you left in your office, your Excellency."
"Oh, fuck me."
As the Grand Vizier glanced over the notes, a firm knock on the door rattled through the room.
"Yes?" shouted Yeghoyan
"The Spanish are here!"
"Fuck.... here, get me my overcoat.... yep, alright--- Ocalan, are you coming, mate?"
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The President, Jesús Aguilar, was doing some paperwork while the plane was flying over the Straight of Gibraltar, the natural border between Spain and the Ottoman Empire. Once the plane crossed the border, it started to go down. The plane landed successfully in the Constantinople's Airport. "So here we are." Said Aguilar while the plane was going into the terminal.
The plane parked and Aguilar got off the plane. He approached to the Grand Vizier and made a reverence: "Your excelency, it's an honour to be here."
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"Oh no, the honor is mine! I am thrilled we are having this summit.", said the Grand Vizier. "And please, call me Kazavon"
Yeghoyan licked his lips nervously, though attempting to conceal his apparent timidity.
"And of course, Mr. President, I would like you to meet our exceptional foreign minister, Esin Ocalan. He has been doing to heavy lifting on making sure things work out for our neighbors, while I have been busy at with domestic policy. So, really, he should be heading the whole summit!"
The foreign minister let out a nervous chuckle. "The Grand Vizier overestimates me. I barely manage on my own..."
"Nonsense! I am sure you will blow the Spanish delegation off their feet by the end of this summit."
"Now." paused the Grand Vizier. "I welcome you to Constantinople, Mr. President. Are you hungry? I was thinking we could talk over a lunch about some of the main points for the summit. And then, when we are in conference room, we can hammer out the details. What do you say, Mr. President?"
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Dastis, who also got off the plane after Aguilar, and made a reverence. "Nice to meet you both. I'm Alfonso Dastis, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs." He approached to the Foreign Affairs Minister from the Ottoman Empire, which he started talking. "Don't say that Mr. Ocalan. When the Grand Vizier say you are a great minister, then it's true. And I can ensure that, the management from the Ottoman Minister of Foreign Affairs looking forward the summit has been fantastic, so congratulations."
Aguilar smiled and looked at the Grand Vizier: *"Thank you for this warm welcome to a very beautiful city like Constantinople. I must say there's a different between seeing it by the TV. When you get onto here it's even more amazing!." Aguilar said. "I am hungry, and yes, we can do that."
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"Splendid! Right this way Mr. President."
Yeghoyan, followed by the Ottoman delegation, led the Spanish delegation to the Imperial Banquet room.
"Ah yes, here it is. I have never been in here myself with a foreign delegation! Well, isn't there a first time for everything?" said Yeghoyan with a touch of delight in his voice.
"This room is one of the later additions to the palace-- heavily inspired by the likes of our European neighbors. Like the Spainish!" he smiled.
As both delegations seated themselves, the various dishes rolled out-- as well as an abundant amount of coffee.
"Before we begin our meal I would like to give a toast to both our honored Spanish guests as well as the staff from Madrid and Constantinople that made this possible. Oftentimes, the people who are not known are the people who make history."
Yeghoyan turned to the Spanish President
"Mr. President, do you have anything words you wish to share before we begin?"
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Aguilar stood up and started to talk:
"Gentlemens, I'm very delighted to be here today. This is the start of, a great cooperation between 2 excellent neighbours as the Ottoman Empire and Spain. As Kazavon said, there a first time for everything, and this is the first time that this 2 nations will meet to cooperate and to strengthen ties between us. So, thank you for this recievement."
Jesús sat down and smiled, then he waited for the Grand Vizier to say anything.
Dastis was looking the room and the views from the table. "This is a truly amazing room. And I would also like to thank all the staff that made this possible."
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Both delegations ate, though not so quickly as to hinder conversation
"Tell me Mr. President", said Yeghoyan. "What vision do you have for the relationship between Constantinople and Madrid? We, for our part, hope that Spanish Government is open to free-trade negotiations and various agreements on cooperation between our States."
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"That's what I was thinking on." Said Aguilar. "Spain would be interested on a free trade and movement agreement as in other cooperations agreement looking forward to future projects together, as also talking about the Straight of Gibraltar, which it's a very important geographical point for the European Union as for both of us."
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"Alright, we are certainly open to hammering out an agreement concerning the Straight. You are certainly right that the straight is important to the interests of the Ottoman State. But while on the subject of free movement of persons, what is the most relaxed policy concerning visa requirements that the Spanish government is willing to accept?"
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"So we've got agreements with Malborya and Nofoaga concerning free-movement of people. We always welcome everyone to our country with bilateral agreements and with no visa except if he is travelling for an extended period of time. In that case, he will have to ask for a Visa and he couldn't stay more than 265 days. If the would like to come to Spain just to find a job, they will have 3 months to search it and an extra time could be asked to find it if you haven't still found one."
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"This government is perfectly comfortable in allowing Spanish citizens to stay in the Ottoman State for that set amount of time. However, Constantinople would like to set some standards for people who wish to work in this country. Since its our hope that this arrangement between our borders are equal, I also hope the Spanish government will be open to the idea of a standardized method of issuing work permits between our 2 countries."
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"We also include that on the agreements we sign. In this case, Ottoman citizens could request a indefinite residence status to work, study or live in Spain under the following conditions:
- If the citizen is requesting indefinite residence status to study in Spain, they must show a qualification certificate to the Spanish Border Force (exercised by Guardia Civil) from the educational institution they are going to study. This certificate includes detailed information about the institution and the citizen themselves. This can be obtained via requesting directly from the educational institution.
- If the citizen is requesting indefinite residence status to work in Spain, they must obtain a workplace certificate from the Spanish Border Force which includes the address of the workplace and details about the citizen.
- If the citizen wants to live under the indefinite residence, they must inform the Spanish Border Force."
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"I see. Well these standards can certainly be incorporated into our agreement. In addition, this government would also like to see other standards in this agreement as well. Let me see here...."
Yeghoyan pulls out his binder and sets it on his lap
"It goes without saying our government's duty to protect the interests of Ottoman citizens and businesses. As such, we would like to add the requirement that Ottoman citizens take priorty over Spanish workers. More specifically, a business must provide evidence that the candidates under consideration are not as eligible as the Spanish candidates to the point the necessity. Of course, this would mean that a business must sponsor one in order to obtain a work permit. I understand this may seem strict, but this government has been working overtime to ensure that the people who enter the Ottoman State are well-qualified and decent people, as well to ensure that Ottoman industry and business might not be harmed in the process of making dealings with our neighbors."
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"Seems alright to me, I am quite reticent but I really want this agreement to be something that takes place. Could the Kingdom of Spain get the same treatment with its workers on the Ottoman Empire? That would make it a fair agreement talking in this terms of priority."
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"Of course. All employees in the Ottoman State are under the same protections laid out by the Vizierate of Labour Relations."
"Now.....I suppose it is appropriate to discuss of the Straight of Gibraltar. Our government have some ideas on what we would kind of agreements we would like to have with the Kingdom of Spain. Though we are more than keen to hear your thoughts and how they might align with ours."
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Aguilar got some papers from his briefcase and started to talk once again: "So, I've planned to divide the Straight in 3. The Spanish part, the Ottoman Part and the International Part Controlled by an Organization called "Gibraltar's Straight Security Agency", which principal function it's to agree what protocols should be applied if a war takes place in the EU or in a surrounding country."
"I've also thought on a massive idea, as a train conection would be a great resource to both nations, but distance it's the main problem. We would need lots of money to do that, and building a bridge coul also be something. But please Kazavon, tell me what your ideas are."
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"This is an interesting proposal. Ultimately, this kind of proposal would take some deliberation, and may merit its own summit. But humor me, how would members of the Gibraltar's Straight Security Agency (GSSA) be appointed? Would half be Ottoman, would half be Spanish? I also would like hear your thoughts on a potential Toll Policy that both and Spain and the Ottomans would enforce jointly."
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"Exactly. 4 people would be part of the Gibraltar's Straight Security Agency (GSSA). 2 of them would be from the Ottoman Empire and 2 of them from the Kingdom of Spain. And please, tell me more about the Toll Policy you have in mind."
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"Well, firstly, any question of passage regarding the straight will be under the jurisdiction of Spain and the Ottomans jointly. Meaning anyone who wishes a separate deal regarding passage will have to negotiate with both Spain and the Ottoman State. The plan is roughly, normal passage carrying cargo will be subject to a 2 percent tax of the Cargo value on board-- both Spain and the Ottoman State will take the full tax value in their own zone of the Straight. Should it enter under GSSA jurisdiction, the half of the tax value will go to each respective State."
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"That's perfect. Count Spain into that. Spain would like to talk about Free Trade. The Spanish proposal it's the following one:
1. Spain will eliminate all custom duties and tariffs between the Ottoman Empire.
2. Spain may apply value-added taxes (VAT) and/or goods and services taxes (GST) on goods and services imported from the Ottoman Empire, as long as similar Spain goods and services are subject to the same VAT or GST taxes in Spain.
3. Spain may search any cargo coming from Ottoman Empire that is deemed suspicious for, but not limited to:- Items that are (temporarily or permanently) blocked in Spain for various reasons
- Dangerous criminals wanted in Spain, suspect of hiding in the Ottoman Empire.
4. Any food product that is coming from Ottoman Empire must be analyzed and approved by Spanish Ministry of Health before their distribution around the country.
I hope Spain gets the same treatment than the Ottoman Empire gets, as also feel free to add anything you want to."
The Kingdom of Spain