Biden-Erdogan talks welcomed by Athens

Greek officials were positive about the short meeting between the presidents of the United States and Turkey, Joe Biden and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Bali.

Despite, or more likely because of, the tense relationship with its nominal NATO ally to the east, Greece has steadfastly held the view that Turkey should not be allowed to drift away from the Western alliance and act unfettered and unpredictably.

With the Turkish leadership choosing to ratchet up tensions in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, Athens is wary of a sudden crisis, especially in the runup to both countries’ elections in the middle of next year.

And it appreciates the other allies’ advising Turkey to moderate its stance and help maintain regional stability and security, the latest such example being French President Emmanuel Macron at the G20.

Government officials do not see Greece’s bilateral relationship with Turkey as a zero-sum game and say Athens is not competing with Ankara for Washington’s attention.

But they do not hide that Greek-US ties have gotten closer in the past few years, especially military cooperation, with the upgrade of the port of Alexandroupoli as a conduit of aide to Ukraine and some other strategic decisions, such as the expansion of the US military presence and the decision to sell the advanced F-35 fighter to Greece, while Turkey, once touted as a producer of the fighter’s parts, is excluded from the program because of its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile system.

Turkish sources leaked that Biden told Erdogan in Bali that he would work to overcome objections in Congress over the sale of F-16 fighters and upgrade kits.

The US side only mentioned Biden’s condolences over the terrorist incident in Istanbul a day after Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu rejected an initial official US statement condemning the attack as “the murderer arriving… at the scene of the crime.”