In its proposal sent to Athens, Ankara underlined the cooperation platforms it has recently established with other neighbors, and said it would be possible to have such a platform with Athens, in a mechanism based on mutual respect and understanding.
While admitting the presence of significant differences of views between Ankara and Athens on certain substantial issues, Turkish diplomatic sources, speaking with Today’s Zaman, stated that this fact is not a barrier to improving bilateral relations. Moreover, a probable improvement of bilateral cooperation will also have a positive impact on resolving those disputed issues, the same sources said.
As frequently voiced by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, “having mutual economic dependence with neighboring countries” will contribute to strengthening security in the region and will also play a facilitating role in resolving substantial issues in the long run. Transportation, energy and tourism are among the particular fields in which Ankara believes that cooperation with Greece can be maximized. Visa facilities for businesspeople and mutual exchange programs in various fields are also planned.
A rapprochement between Ankara and Athens actually started long before Turkey’s efforts to normalize its relations with Syria, Iraq and Armenia. The two countries came to the brink of war three times between 1974 and 1996 over Aegean borders and the divided island country of Cyprus.
The rapprochement between the Turkish and Greek peoples after the devastating earthquakes each suffered in 1999 provided another incentive to intensify diplomatic efforts for the improvement of bilateral relations. But occasional accusations of airspace and territorial water violations as well as the Cyprus issue continue to mar relations.
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.
Another issue has been illegal immigration. Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants sneak into Greece each year, many heading to Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast. Greece has signed an agreement with Turkey under which it can send back illegal immigrants who enter from Turkey, but Greece says the agreement is often not enforced.
Ankara apparently considers new Prime Minister George Papandreou’s term in office as an opportunity for a new high-level strategic relationship, as Papandreou championed rapprochement between Greece and Turkey, when he served as foreign minister between 1999 and 2004. Last month, he paid his first foreign trip to Turkey on the occasion of an informal meeting of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP), hosted by Davutoğlu.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently sent a letter to Papandreou, who is also currently handling his government’s foreign affairs, highlighting his expectation ofa new acceleration in the two countries’ bilateral cooperation on the occasion of the new government in Athens.
The Turkish government has the will to improve relations with Greece in all fields and is ready to deal with all current issues, Erdoğan told Papandreou in his letter sent on Oct. 30, the prime ministry press office said on Wednesday. He also offered a series of proposals for creating new cooperation opportunities within this framework, the office said, without elaborating on the content of the proposals.
“It is not possible to think that authorities from Turkey and Greece will gather and not talk about Cyprus,” State Minister and chief EU negotiator Egemen Bağış told reporters on Thursday in İstanbul ahead of his departure for an official visit to Athens, apparently referring to the fact that Turkey and Greece, along with UK, are guarantor countries in Cyprus.
The Cyprus problem erupted after the eastern Mediterranean island was granted independence from Britain in 1960, soon followed by an outbreak of inter-communal clashes in 1963. The island was ethnically divided between a Greek south and a Turkish north when the Turkish military intervened in 1974 under the terms of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee after diplomacy failed to end unrest on the island. Bağış expressed hope for a concrete outcome from ongoing reunification negotiations between Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, citing the “courageous” leadership of Erdoğan and Papandreou as a chance for such an outcome.
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