Greece, Turkey eye stronger ties, lower defense spending

The NATO allies have been at odds for years over airspace boundaries and flight procedures over the Aegean Sea which divides them, and mock dogfights between fighter jets from each side are common.

Speaking at a joint press conference following their meeting in Ankara, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and Greece’s visiting Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas were reminded of remarks by Turkey’s chief negotiator for European Union talks, Egemen Bağış, who recently criticized Germany and France for seeking to sell military equipment to Greece while pressing the government in Athens to make drastic cuts in public spending as a result of its dire financial crisis.

In remarks published in The New York Times late last month, Bağış also said that to help Greece escape its “economic disaster” and reduce regional tension, Ankara would reciprocate if Greeks froze or cut defense procurement. “One of the reasons for the economic crisis in Greece is because of their attempt to compete with Turkey in terms of defense expenditures,” Bağış said.

After recalling Bağış’s remarks, which had at the time sparked great interest in the Greek media, a Greek reporter asked whether Greek people living on the Aegean coast would no longer see warships and fighter planes when they look out their windows.

“There is a vision which we have drawn, and this [vision] is not based on threat perception, but is based on mutual understanding,” Davutoğlu said, admitting that they had discussed the issue with Droutsas.

“When we build a common future, there will not be something called defense spending. Imagine two neighbors who share the same street; they may have different views,” Davutoğlu continued. “We should allocate our budget to our joint future generations. These are steps toward throwing flowers when we look out of our windows, and we will make it happen.”

Responding to the same question, Droutsas said Athens has stated that it wants the Aegean to be “a sea of peace,” adding that such a situation would help to improve bilateral relations between Ankara and Athens.

“To make this happen, there is the need for respect for territorial integrity and the international rule of law and [for] discovering a shared peace, which is the goal of our joint vision. To [discover] the shared peace, there is the need to transfer from the defense budget to education and health,” said Droutsas, whose remarks were translated from Greek into Turkish through an interpreter.

Greece spends more of its gross domestic product (GDP) on the defense than any other European Union country, largely due to the long-standing tension with its neighbor, historic rival and NATO ally Turkey.

Turkey, meanwhile, is included among the top 10 arms buyers in the world despite the global financial crisis that recently hit the world, according to a report released last month by the Swedish-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Ankara aims to achieve a “brand new paradigm” in bilateral relations with Athens, Davutoğlu also said, while announcing that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will pay a long-anticipated official visit to Greece in May.

He and Droutsas decided to establish a high-level strategic cooperation council, similar to those Turkey has established with Iraq and Syria, Davutoğlu announced, noting that the first meeting of the council will take place during Erdoğan’s Athens visit with the participation of 10 members of the Cabinet from either side.

In 2002 Greek and Turkish diplomats began exploratory talks on their disputes. Business deals have steadily increased and include a pipeline link that will be used to carry natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Western Europe. But the Aegean has remained a source of tension.

On the occasion of Droutsas’ visit, Greece and Turkey on Thursday agreed on five new confidence building measures (CBM) in addition to the 24 CBMs already adopted. The news measures are all aimed at building mutual understanding and more frequent contact between the militaries of the two countries.

According to one of those CBMs, “A Greek division/brigade will be assigned to NATO Rapid Deployable Corps-Turkey (NRDC-T) and a Turkish division/brigade will be assigned to NATO Deployable Corps-Greece (NDC-GR) for training purposes.”

While in Ankara, Droutsas also had talks with President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Erdoğan. On Wednesday he met with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew in İstanbul.