Greece, Turkey: Who is ready to normalize relations?
Greece is signaling its readiness to pursue the normalization of its relations with Turkey. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, strengthened by his resounding victory in Greece’s recent elections, has made it clear that he is willing to go the extra mile.
The immediate next steps in this process will include contacts and moves at a higher political level than in the past. In this context, the two foreign ministers will be in close communication, holding meetings on a regular basis.
At the same time, international fora – the next one being the UN General Assembly in September – as well as bilateral meetings like the newly reinvigorated High Level Cooperation Council in November, will offer the two leaders a chance to personally monitor the effort.
You might need two to tango, but in this case there seems to be a third dancer involved.
Over the last few months, the United States has been working relentlessly and has been searching for a “win-win” formula with a multitude of actions, from military sales to financial assistance, to ensure long-term stability and peaceful cooperation between the two Aegean neighbors.
Still, at the end of the day, Greece and Turkey themselves are the protagonists.
For its part Greece, in its search for a lasting peaceful coexistence with its neighbor to the east, will use as its compass both international law and geopolitical realism.
People who read between the lines detect a boldness in the Greek prime minister’s stance which has already attracted domestic criticism.
Will Turkey respond in kind? Faced with a potentially bumpy road ahead, how difficult is it to terminate the threats of war, stop flights over Greek islands (and by doing so facilitate defense cooperation with the US) and accept as the main guiding rule in solving issues the provisions of the Law of the Sea.
