Turkey, Greece foreign ministers optimistic on ties

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met his Greece counterpart in Athens, after which the two ministers were optimistic about the future of bilateral relations. The two countries have many issues of disagreement, including territorial waters, migration and asylum-seekers.

Some issues like that of migration are a recent issue, while that of territorial waters is a long-standing one. The relations had become strained, and they even reached a point of direct war. But there has been a change of stance on both sides.

Fidan told a press conference which the two ministers had addressed, “We must seize the historic opportunity ahead of us and make the positive climate between our countries permanent. We should transform our eternal neighbour into an eternal friend.” It is one of the principles of foreign policy that a country can choose its friends, but it cannot choose its neighbours. So, there is no escape from neighbours. They have to be dealt with despite likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements. This is indeed the underlying thesis beneath Fidan’s assertion of making eternal neighbours into eternal friends. And he was confident that this was achievable. He said, “I have no doubt that we achieve this goal with a sincere and constructive approach.”

There is a strong element of realism in Fidan’s statement. He is not expressing a wish based on an idealistic vision. There is a realisation that there is a need to discuss problems that exist between the two countries. The positive atmosphere has been in the making for some time now. In May this year, Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan had then said, “Despite disagreements, we focus on a positive agenda by keeping our dialogue channels open.”

Vehbi Baysan, assistant professor at Ibn Haldun University in Turkey, believes that there is a political will to address the intractable issues. He said, “We’re also talking about the energy channelling from Middle Eastern countries and then going to Greece and to Central Europe here as well as major issues like migration. It seems cooperation is absolutely necessary between the two countries and now is the right time.”

In some ways, the neighbourly friction between Greece and Turkey is a symbol of the differences between Turkey and the European Union (EU). Turkey had been wanting to join the EU for the last three decades and more, but EU has been resisting the idea. Finally, Turkey’s leaders, especially President Erdogan, turned away from Europe and tried to strengthen Ankara’s relations in Central Asia and in the Middle East. But it is the European connection that will be a boost to Turkey’s economy.

Opening the door to Greece will be a prelude to opening the door to Europe. It may not lead to Turkey getting the EU membership. Perhaps Ankara is not even interested in the project because EU has too many bureaucratic hurdles to deal with among its members. If Turkey can get the economic benefits from EU without getting entangled in EU’s bureaucratic structure, then that will be the best deal. Greece is also the weakest link in the EU. It has gone through economic turmoil in the last decade and strengthening Athens’ economic ties with Ankara will be of great benefit to Greece. Improved relations between Turkey and Greece can be mutually beneficial, and it seems political leaders on both sides have realised the advantage of it.

That is why, the leaders are highly optimistic that the ties between the two countries can be improved, and it mainly means economic ties. There will be many unresolved differences but they would not hamper where the countries can be of benefit to each other.