Concern in Athens over Turkish statements
The timing of recent comments by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Turkish Navy Chief Ercument Tatlioglu ahead of the scheduled meeting of the High Cooperation Council (HCC) between Greece and Turkey in Athens, in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are seen as signs of a deteriorating atmosphere in Greek-Turkish relations.
Fidan’s statements about the “Turkish” minority in Thrace in northeastern Greece and ethnic Turks in the Dodecanese islands in the southeastern Aegean, came shortly after Erdogan’s statements about solutions to Greek-Turkish relations “without third parties,” and Ankara’s expansionist agenda in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean outlined by Tatlioglu. Although Erdogan’s unpredictable nature offers no assurance about the content of his public rhetoric, there is no concern in Athens about the HCC on December 7. The Turkish president will however also visit Muslim minority regions.
Fidan said that the situation of the “Turkish” minority in Western Thrace and the ethnic Turks in the Dodecanese “is one of the issues we are giving priority to.”
“We are closely monitoring the issues of protecting their rights in areas such as education, religious freedoms and the management of institutions, which are guaranteed by the Lausanne Peace Treaty and international agreements,” he said, adding, “We will continue to protect our rights and interests with sensitivity in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.” He however also said that Ankara wants to promote relations with “our neighbor Greece through a sincere and constructive dialogue based on a positive agenda.”
Dialogue, he said, “will contribute to peace, stability and prosperity in our immediate region,” and relations “are moving in a positive direction with the help of the solidarity diplomacy recently demonstrated.”
Tatlioglu raised the issue of demilitarization and questioned Greek sovereignty over the Aegean islands, while he accused Greece of acquiring armaments that “increase tension,” citing the FDI frigates and Rafale fighters.
