Greek crisis could boost Turkish-Greek relations

Speaking to Today’s Zaman, İbrahim Öztürk, a professor of economics at Marmara University, said the two neighboring countries border the same sea but cannot take advantage of this proximity for various reasons, but he predicted that the current financial crisis might be a chance to overcome the psychological obstacles to collaboration. “Turkish businessmen should pay a solidarity visit to Greece. It is not important whether we get a concrete result or not, but it will definitely provide noteworthy psychological gains, and this matters,” he said. Öztürk called on the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), along with other business associations such as: the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSİAD) and the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) to immediately organize such trips to Greece and get businessmen of both nations together to discuss possible ways to collaborate. Unexpected deals in economic cooperation could also be reached during such talks, but, in the first place, such meetings will make remarkable psychological contributions to the resolution of a number of issues existing between the two countries, he said.

Professor Esfender Korkmaz, the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) main economy expert, also believes that the crisis can be seen as an opportunity to develop Turkish-Greek relations. “Turkish and Greek companies can make joint investments. It would be very helpful if Turkish businessmen first visited Greece, bringing positive messages,” he told Today’s Zaman.

With a per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of $30,000, Greece is capable of surmounting the crisis without difficulty, Korkmaz remarked. However, the meltdown reached these levels due to a disagreement between Germany and France to share the costs. The stock exchanges did not fall because of the Greek crisis, he stressed, adding that if no crisis had erupted in Greece the downturn would happen again due to Spain and Portugal.

Cooperation rather than competition

As a way of tackling the crisis, the economies might opt for competition in a bid to raise revenue, but the economist stated, establishing cooperation is much wiser. “The two countries might increase their returns by cooperating instead of competing,” Korkmaz pointed out. Tourism and olive production came to the fore as two major fields in which both countries can compete. According to Öztürk, Turkey and Greece have important similarities and if only they managed to cooperate on these similarities rather than competing, they could both double their revenue.

However, Öztürk said that Greece might choose to compete due to the financial difficulties it has been through. In this regard, Turkish businessmen should be the ones to try to assure cooperation in the market, otherwise drops in prices would become chronic, damaging both sides, he said.

According to him, the Greek crisis will not affect the Turkish economy directly, except in the sectors of tourism and olive production, but if the crisis cannot be brought under control then it will create serious concerns in both Europe and rest of the world, which will have an indirect effect on Turkey, too.

Mutual visits sign of developing cooperation

Relations between Turkey and Greece have been developing for a while with mutual visits paid by top-level government officials. After coming in to office, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou paid his first official visit to Turkey, even before Greek Cyprus. This move was regarded as a positive step in the resolution of issues between the two countries. Papandreou also gave a positive and promising answer to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s letter, offering to have a high-level consultancy meeting to discuss bilateral problems between the two countries. Erdoğan is expected to pay a visit to Greece soon. The exact date of the visit is expected to be determined during Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Drucas’ visit to Ankara.

Asked whether there will be a plan to transfer some Turkish capital to Greece during the financial crisis, Erdoğan has said that Economy Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek will be working on some projects in this regard. He also stated that Turkish businessmen could have talks with their Greek counterparts to establish partnerships.

Turkish and Greek businessmen are scheduled to come together in Athens in the forthcoming days. The event is planned to be attended by Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Çağlayan and Ekrem Demirtaş, president of İzmir Chamber of Commerce.