Positive signals from Ankara
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan decided to send a positive signal of a normalization in ties with Greece from Athens. He knows that such a development will be welcomed by the West as much as the markets, all the more so at a time when Ankara has sharpened its barbs against the West and lashed out against the United States’ most strategic ally in the region, Israel.
It is evident, of course, that Turkey is the one playing with the tension switch; it is the one that backtracked after causing it to spike in the first place, while Greece remained firm on its positions. The disposition on both sides is to leave the recent friction behind and set aside the main differences separating the two parties, for the time being. It is a sensible approach, encompassed in the form of a roadmap (setting milestones for the months ahead) in the declaration of friendship and good-neighborly relations. What remains to be seen, is whether the consolidation of the rapprochement will create the conditions for a sincere rather than ostensible discussion on resolving the issues that have been souring relations these past decades. It is, nevertheless, important that the Athens Declaration, though nonbinding, sets down on paper the intentions of the two sides, and especially of Turkey, which agrees to avoid confrontational situations and escalations.
From there on, Greece demonstrated its clear and tangible support for a rapprochement between Turkey and the European Union, particularly with regard to the liberalization of travel visas, which is a very important issue for Turkey. By agreeing to grant Turks temporary visas to travel to 10 Greek islands, Greece is paving the way, on its own terms, given that this deal required the green light from the EU. But from the Turkish side, too, the agreement constitutes a tacit recognition not necessarily of the islands’ Greekness but of the fact that they can, as the prime minister said, constitute “bridges of friendship” with the other side. The overarching aim is to encourage even more exchanges between the two societies.
The disagreement over the Muslim minority in Greece expressed during the two leaders’ joint statements was, perhaps, the only thing to mar the visit and it is important to see whether the Turkish president will persist with this line when he meets with representatives of the community and when he makes his customary comments on the flight back home, where he usually makes important announcements.
Though no agreement was signed on the matter of immigration, we will hold onto the official figures showing that arrivals from the Turkish coast have dropped significantly in the past few weeks (because of the visit, one wonders?), while it is also time to review the March 2016 EU-Turkey joint statement on migration. It will be interesting to see whether Greece, and on what terms, will contribute to this process, when the need arises.
To sum up, the Mitsotakis-Erdogan meeting was crowned with success, by fully meeting the realistic goal of maintaining the de-escalation, expanding the field of cooperation and changing the overall mood. As of Friday, it will be harder for a Turkish official to lash out against Greece, while any official moves challenging Greek sovereignty in the field are considered unlikely. It appears that the Turkish-Libyan agreement is being put on ice, in the sense that it is not expected to be activated in the near future.
The challenge, however, is to ensure that this positive climate is properly exploited by both sides in order to open a new chapter in bilateral relations and, on the other hand, to have a positive effect on the Cyprus issue, mainly by preventing any moves from Ankara undermining or challenging Cyprus’ energy program.
Constantinos Filis is the director of the Institute of Global Affairs (IGA) and an associate professor at the American College of Greece (ACG).
