Balkans | The new path in Turkish-Greek relations, the goal of continuity and consistency in a positive atmosphere

The meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis within the scope of the NATO Summit revealed the common desire for continuity and consistency in the positive atmosphere in Turkish-Greek relations.

The AA reporter collected the bilateral relations that gradually grew closer after the earthquake disaster in Turkey and the train accident in Greece, the messages given during the meeting of Erdogan and Mishotakis in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, and the path drawn by the two countries, which was left behind by the general elections.

Dialogue process brought about by “Solidarity in Troubled Times”

Although there are a number of problems between the two countries, especially in the Aegean Sea, which directly affect Turkey’s rights and basic interests, bilateral relations, especially in 2020, as tensions intensified, and mutual messages of friendship and solidarity after the earthquake that hit Turkey and gave an accident The train in Greece is a new face.

The support of Turkey and Greece after the earthquake that hit Kahramanmaraş on February 6 in Turkey and the train accident in Greece on the night of February 28 brought the ongoing relations to the point of solidarity in troubled times.

After the earthquakes that struck Turkey, Greek politicians sent messages of solidarity, the Greek people organized large-scale aid campaigns, and the two countries’ high-level communication channels reopened after Mitsotakis called Erdogan and conveyed his condolences.

After the train accident that killed 57 people in Greece, condolences from Turkey to Greece were conveyed at the highest level.

The father of engineer Nikos Nalpantis, who lost his life in the accident, was able to attend the funeral of the son of Dimitrios Nalpantis, who was convicted in Turkey at the time, and was transferred to prison in his country as part of a conviction transfer agreement between Turkey and Greece.

Mutual support decision on international platforms

The contacts between the foreign ministers also led to positive steps towards the path of relations.

Nikos Dendias, then Greek Foreign Minister, who was on a trip to Latin America during the earthquake, visited the earthquake zone with then Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at the end of the trip.

The two ministers emphasized that “there is no need to wait for an earthquake or any disaster for relations to improve,” and later announced an important step for rapprochement at the international donors’ conference held in Brussels on March 20.

The two ministers announced that Turkey decided to support Greece’s candidacy for membership of the United Nations Interim Security Council for the period 2025-2026, and Greece to support Turkey’s candidacy for the post of Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

Collaboration with the “Positive Agenda”

Negotiations on the joint action plan between Türkiye and Greece continued within the scope of the positive agenda.

Finally, in the fourth round of talks hosted by Ankara on March 22, progress was made on 25 topics such as the development of cooperation in the fields of entrepreneurship, tourism, energy, transport, communications, maritime, information and communication technology, education, social security, health and environment – receiving.

The two parties continue to agree on further cooperation in the context of the positive agenda.

A fresh start with the post-election NATO meeting

After the presidential elections held in Turkey on May 28 and the general elections held in Greece on June 25, two new governments were formed in both countries.

The meetings of the leaders of the two countries at the NATO summit, which reassured the two peoples with the elections, revealed a roadmap for a new path in relations in the new period.

And we announced in a joint statement that the meeting was held in a good atmosphere, and the two countries affirmed the consensus reached that the continuation and consistency of the positive climate in bilateral relations in recent months benefits both countries.

The next roadmap for Turkey and Greece includes building relations on a positive momentum and activating multiple channels of communication between the two countries.

An important outcome of the meeting in NATO was the decision to hold the next meeting of the High Level Cooperation Council (HLCC) in Thessaloniki in the fall.

Thus, 7.5 years after the fourth YDİK meeting held in Izmir in March 2016, it was planned that the delegations would meet again.

Letters of affinity from leaders

One of the most important results of the meeting between Erdoğan and Mitsotakis in NATO is that the two leaders confirmed their intention to conduct more frequent contacts at all levels in order to create an environment of trust and conditions that would ensure the improvement of Turkish-Greek. Relations.

In his assessment of the meeting, President Erdoğan stated that his goal is to “increase friends, not enemies” and said, “How can we further strengthen this friendship, how can we strengthen this friendship, we held its meetings. Today’s meeting was almost like a meeting where the foundations for this were laid again.” He said.

Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis also indicated that Turkey and Greece intend to get closer again, and said: “This does not mean that the important problems between us and Turkey have been magically resolved, but I think that both leaders show their desire to get closer again from a positive and, in my opinion, more important perspective.” The result of today’s meeting and this is it.” He spoke.

Mitsotakis had previously emphasized in several of his speeches that the presence of governments with strong popular support in both countries can play a positive role in resolving problems.

AA