Greek-Turkish Relations

In order to persuade the EU of his putatively good intentions. Erdogan agreed to resume exploratory talks with Greece (that he had cut off in July, 2016) on 25 January.

The talks began in 2002, when Pasok's Costas Simitis was PM and were abruptly cut off after the failed coup attempt against Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July, 2016. 

Even the most incredulous person realises the words of the Turkish president are hollow as he takes care to demonstrate every day that he is an untrustworthy interlocutor.

'What we have achieved is to raise awareness of Europe as a whole about the strategic importance of the Mediterranean basin and especially of the Eastern Mediterranean,' the PM said.

The prime minister was judged for his leadership abilities and won the true respect of the majority of the citizenry when he was confronted with singular and unforeseen crises.

Greece is working to create a security umbrella including Israel and Cyprus in the face of Turkey’s hostile actions in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean.

Tasoulas offered a quotation alluding to Turkish provocations, “While for most peoples of the East light comes, for us comes the darkness.”

Today’s meeting, reportedly was not a negotiation but rather a repetition of the two sides’ steadfast position.

All that has been happening in the last few months on the Greek islands do not point to a responsible stance on Turkey’s part.

The curtailing of refugee and migrant flows from the Turkish coast to the Greek islands was obviously also at the top of the Greek PM’s agenda.

The Greek government’s statements of condemnation obviously do not address the issue, nor does a merely formal alignment of the government and the opposition suffice to confront Ankara’s provocations.

'We remain coordinated with the Republic of Cyprus and our other EU partners and allies regarding the next steps and we support Cyprus on all actions that will follow,' Minister Evangelos Apostolakis said.

Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Christos Christodoulou, warns about the prospect of a Greek-Turkish military accident in the Aegean.

'The treaties of Lausanne and Paris, which are totally clear and comprehensive, leave no room for doubt and should be entirely respected by all,' the President said.

Ankara has for over four decades, and especially since the 1996 Imia crisis, attempted to drag Athens into a no-holds-barred negotiation.

'Despite the existence of problems and dangerous incidents in the air and at sea, which could lead to a serious accident, on our side we are making constant efforts to normalise the situation and defuse tension.'

The two sides are planning new confidence-building measures and the return of exploratory talks on delimitation of the Aegean continental shelf.

The greatest problem in bilateral relation are Ankara’s persistent claims against Greek sovereign rights in the Aegean and its efforts to hinder Cyprus' gas-drilling programme.

The Americans view Turkey as an unstable ally and are thus transferring strategic weight and focus to Greece, expanding the areas of military and economic cooperation.

It is unacceptable in a democratic country for the political chief of the armed forces to be drawn into a climate of dangerous sabre-rattling, indifferent to the repercussions.