Greece has been walking a path of balance in relations between Turkey and Israel recently, as it moves within a fluid geopolitical environment where good neighborly relations among Mediterranean countries emerge as a necessity on one hand, while the need for defensive fortification of the country appears more urgent than ever on the other.
Read: 5th round of Greece-Turkey Political Dialogue held in positive atmosphere in Athens
Thus, on Tuesday in Athens, two fields of diplomatic consultations unfolded. While the Greek-Turkish dialogue was taking place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the framework of the “Political Dialogue,” at the Ministry of National Defense, Nikos Dendias was receiving Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, in a visit sealing the strategic relationship between the two countries, just weeks after the trilateral meeting of Greece, Cyprus, and Israel that caused great displeasure in Turkey.
Greece at diplomatic turning point: dialogue with Turkey and strategic deepening of relations with Israel, as international relations experts comment to parapolitika.gr
In this environment, consultations between Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandra Papadopoulou and her Turkish counterpart Mehmet Kemal Bozay on regional and international issues were conducted “in a very positive climate,” as senior diplomatic sources told parapolitika.gr. A significant part of the discussions involved arranging details for the meeting between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, which, as all signs indicate, has been scheduled for the coming days.
However, the atmosphere in Turkey’s pro-government media does not show friendly sentiments toward our country, as they make extensive references to the Israeli official’s visit to Athens and the Greece-Israel defense cooperation. Daily Sabah, with the headline “Greece and Israel strengthen security cooperation amid regional tensions,” writes: “The intensifying Israel-Greece ties could harm Turkey’s rapprochement with Greece after decades of hostilities. Turkey is a major critic of Israel for its genocidal policy in Gaza and is wary of the Netanyahu government’s expansionism across the region. Regarding Greece, Turkey seeks common ground to improve ties, although Athens’ rapid pace of armament is a source of concern.” And Hurriyet, with the headline “Athens and Tel Aviv agree on defense cooperation,” refers extensively to Greece-Israel defense cooperation and speaks of “strong economic and diplomatic ties,” while focusing particularly on the trilateral meeting held in December in Jerusalem between Netanyahu, Mitsotakis, and Christodoulides.
“Turkey is generally annoyed. It’s annoyed because we raise issues in the American Congress, it’s annoyed because we raise issues in the European Union. The fact that we have a good relationship with Israel doesn’t mean we can’t talk to Turkey. We talk to Turkey because we’re forced to, we’re neighbors, there are issues that can escalate at any moment and lead us to a crisis. So it’s logical that the government wants to keep channels open. This, after all, is diplomacy’s job,” international relations experts comment to parapolitika.gr who are carefully studying the neighbor’s moves.
Today, the Turkish and Greek delegations, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Harris Theocharis and Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mehmet Kemal Bozay, will meet within the framework of the “Positive Agenda” to examine solutions to economic-technical issues concerning both countries.
