The waiting game
If only the hopes expressed by Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis – that the launch of Turkey’s accession talks with the European Union will contribute to improving its relations with Greece – could eventually be realized. At the moment, such speculation is merely wishful thinking; not only because Turkey’s accession negotiations promise to be a long and complex process but also because of our neighbor’s well-known tendency to act like the major power in the region, in the manner of an old empire, striving to ensure that things will be done according to its own wishes and plans. It remains to be seen whether Monday night’s approval of talks with Turkey – following marathon negotiations in Luxembourg, which featured a stern intervention by the USA – will actually turn out to be the «historic moment» to which Molyviatis referred. There is no guarantee that a Europe of 380 million citizens welcoming Turkey’s 75 million or so inhabitants will contribute toward Greek-Turkish rapprochement or to the resolution of ongoing disputes between the two countries. We can only wait and see whether Ankara’s winning a seat at the European negotiating table will lead to the Turkish military curbing its aggressive tactics in the Aegean and shifting its stance on Cyprus…
