Greek-Turkish relations appear back on track with positive messages from both sides. Greece’s reelected Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis issued one such message again on Monday but reiterated Greece’s position on the flashpoint issue of Cyprus as he visited the island.
He said that his government wants to take full advantage of a developing positive political climate with neighboring Türkiye to improve bilateral relations despite a string of decades-old disputes. But “that doesn’t mean Türkiye has “substantially changed” its stance on key differences between the two countries and needs to “decisively abandon its aggressive and unlawful conduct” against Greece’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Türkiye and Greece remain at odds over maritime boundaries in the Eastern Mediterranean, a dispute that affects irregular migration into the European Union, mineral rights and the projection of military power. Türkiye says it is Greece turning to aggression, especially by arming Aegean islands close to Turkish shores, with the aid of, as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently said, “their friends at the White House.” Mitsotakis said that he agreed with Erdoğan during a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11-12 to initiate new “lines of communication” and to maintain “a period of calm.” High-level talks between the two countries are expected to take place in the Greek city of Thessaloniki later this year.
However, the Greek prime minister said that Erdoğan’s outreach to the EU can’t come at the expense of efforts to heal Cyprus’ nearly half-century ethnic division. Before the NATO summit, Erdoğan said the EU should pave the way for Türkiye’s membership to the bloc if Ankara goes ahead with the approval of Sweden as a new member of NATO.
After talks with Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, Mitsotakis said that he told Erdoğan that improved European-Turkish ties can’t exclude a Cyprus peace accord and that the issue can’t be “left by the wayside.”
Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have insisted on a two-state solution since July 2017, when the most recent round of U.N.-facilitated peace talks collapsed. On Friday, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar repeated that peace talks could resume only if Greek Cypriots recognize the Turkish Cypriots’ “sovereign equality.” Christodoulides said Monday that any improvement in European-Turkish relations should be based on reciprocal action by Türkiye, adding that the EU prioritizes a Cyprus peace deal in line with U.N. resolutions.
