Athens monitoring Erdogan’s moves
Government believes he won’t open another front aggravating Greek-Turkish relations
With channels of communication between Athens and Ankara open due to the agreed summit in Thessaloniki on December 7 in the presence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Greek government is closely watching his latest statements with concern, as he once again ups the ante with Israel and the West.
What Erdogan stated, accusing the West of not caring about Gaza since there is “Muslim blood” there and adding that Turkey owes nothing to Israel, cannot be overlooked in Athens.
Greek concerns were further fueled by Erdogan’s reference, after a long time, to the “borders of our heart” and former Ottoman dominions in the wider region.
“We are defending Gaza, as we did in the past in Thrace, in the Balkans, in the Caucasus, on every inch of the Eastern Mediterranean coast,” he said, among other things.
The question is clear: Can Erdogan’s return to an anti-Western rhetoric and his support for Hamas affect Greek-Turkish relations for the worse and especially torch the ongoing talks leading up to December 7?
The answer is that despite the fact that the two nations obviously have opposing views on the Middle East, the Greek side does not want the breakdown of ongoing Greek-Turkish talks, in the belief that the Thessaloniki summit is very significant and should be preserved because it benefits both sides.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis was clear on Monday that Greece constantly wants dialogue, but the other side must show the same willingness.
However, the government believes that Turkey will not open another front at this point, as the Turkish leader’s statements are already causing irritation in the West and the discussions with Greece on the normalization of the migration issue are seen as an ideal counterweight for Turkey.
During their meeting in New York, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Erdogan agreed that the discussions on the confidence building measures will start in November, and now they are expected to start next week.
Meanwhile, the roadmap for the coming period includes an agreement for a trilateral meeting between Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey on November 15 in Kirklareli.
Contacts between the two countries are so advanced that there has been talk of a visit by Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya to Athens at the end of the year, after the Thessaloniki summit.
Barring any unforeseen events, the visit will be to discuss the technical details of the agreement on migration that will have preceded it.
