Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis defended his country’s foreign policy regarding neighboring Türkiye and stated that closing the communication channels with the country, as government critics said would be “a policy of destruction.”
Türkiye and Greece pursue rapprochement in their relations after decades of hostilities, but thorny issues between them appear to take time to be resolved. Among them is the maritime borders across the Aegean, the sea dividing two countries. Greece’s attempt to expand those borders led Türkiye to declare casus belli or cause of war in the 1990s, and it still remains in place. In an interview with Greece’s ERT, the top diplomat said it has been a “huge burden” on relations and it was “long overdue” to remove the casus belli.
The countries, which came close to an all-out war in the 1990s over the Aegean Sea, remain vigilant, with Türkiye concentrating on developing a domestic defense industry. Greece relies on foreign partners to boost its defenses. Embracing the doctrine of being effective and powerful at sea, as its predecessor, the Ottomans, were, Türkiye in the past two decades, has developed an independent defense industry capable of operating in open waters, thereby shifting geopolitical balances in its favor. The navy plays a critical role in ensuring the security of maritime trade routes in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea, promoting regional stability.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was in Ankara earlier this month for the NATO summit and was welcomed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Answering questions on a possible decision by the United States to sell F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye, Mitsotakis has called on NATO to be sensitive toward “an open threat of war.”
