The Athens Declaration: Opportunism or promise?

The warming ties between Greece and Turkey, which were confirmed by the Athens Declaration on Thursday, allow some optimism that perhaps the two countries will be able to cooperate to their mutual benefit. This is a first step on an unpredictable road, and we shall see if it marks a real turn in Turkey’s policy or is yet another tactical move by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Let’s not forget that until the end of February the Turkish president was using the centenary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey to threaten Greece.

Erdogan is always on the move, looking for opportunities, moving things, exploiting circumstances.

Aside from the wave of sincere emotion among the two peoples prompted by the earthquakes in Turkey, Greece did not change its stance on crucial issues. So, to consider whether today’s rapprochement has a future, we need to see why Erdogan changed course. 

We cannot know the Turkish leader’s thoughts. But, from his behavior, we may draw some conclusions regarding his motives. Erdogan is always on the move, looking for opportunities, moving things, exploiting circumstances. Whenever he finds himself at a dead end, he chooses to show that he is in charge of the situation.

With regard to Greece, his persistent aim is to isolate it from its partners in the EU and allies in NATO. He either accuses Greece of wrongdoing or claims that its allies are an obstacle to Greek-Turkish friendship. Because of Athens’ diplomacy, but mainly because of his own missteps, Erdogan did not achieve Greece’s isolation. Now he is showing another face, in an effort to make Greece an ally inside the organizations that have been annoyed by his moves. 

But however cautious we must be, the Greek-Turkish declaration on friendly relations and good neighborliness is important. It confirms that the tension of the past few years did not strengthen Turkey’s position, nor did it weaken Greece’s.

Although the declaration is not binding (and each side can easily charge the other with violating it), it bears the signatures of Erdogan and Kyriakos Mitsotakis. It is an investment in a better future than the one that Turkey’s belligerence made us expect. But it will take gestures of goodwill to show that the Athens Declaration marks real progress rather than opportunism.