Ahead of his visit to Greece on Friday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke about Turkish-Greek relations that leaped forward in the past few years amid intense diplomatic efforts. The two neighboring countries, which often have been at odds over a string of issues throughout their history, enjoy a new chapter in relations under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In an interview with a Greek daily on Thursday, Fidan stated that the two countries should maintain dialogue and cooperation for the prosperity of future generations. Fidan, who will meet his counterpart Giorgos Gerapetritis in the Greek capital, praised the improved relations and said the determination of Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis played an important role in the improvement. "(Mitsotakis and Erdoğan) have significant public support, but this support drives resolve to improve the relations," he said.
After a long period of tensions marked by disputes over irregular migration, the Cyprus dispute, energy exploration and territorial sovereignty in the Aegean, Türkiye and Greece have been taking confidence-building steps for a fragile normalization of their relations, which moved into a new chapter with Erdoğan’s landmark visit to Athens in December. During the visit, the sides announced a friendship declaration, visa facilitation for Turkish citizens for 10 Greek islands in the northern Aegean for up to seven days and for the decreased flow of irregular migrants to Greece. While officials on both sides have expressed commitment to maintaining the positive climate, the issues are longstanding and deep-rooted, and neither side expects the process to be without turbulence, particularly in the Aegean, where Turkish and Greek jets often scuffled until very recently. Earlier in January, Ankara and Athens reached respective deals with Washington for fighter jets, raising concerns about fresh skirmishes in the region.
Fidan said Türkiye's main mission was putting aside historical disputes between the two sides in an era of new challenges requiring regional unity. He said Türkiye's vision was turning the Aegean Sea, dividing two countries "into a sea of peace." The minister said critics of the rapprochement should know that the national interests of Ankara and Athens can only be achieved through friendship and cooperation. "Of course, to achieve this, we need to act realistically and make accurate diagnoses of our problems," he added.
Delimitation of maritime borders is not the only problem, Fidan said, adding that there are many other disputes, which are intertwined, between the two countries. "Time has come to address these problems through mutual respect and cooperation," he said.
Asked about his relationship with Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, Fidan underscored the importance of maintaining an honest and open dialogue to prevent an escalation of tensions to a crisis. "Naturally, there are many important matters we disagree on. However, we have already witnessed the benefits of maintaining communication channels,” he said.
On Greece’s plan to build a marine park in the Aegean Sea, despite objections from Türkiye, Fidan reiterated that Türkiye is open to cooperation with Greece on the issue, but the matter of environmental protection should not be exploited for political purposes. Fidan maintained that there are many reasons to be optimistic about the prospects of Turkish-Greek relations.
On the decades-old Cyprus problem, Fidan said it should be understood by all concerned parties that "re-unification of the island” is out of the question. But it is still possible to seek a solution, and for this, the realities on the ground should be acknowledged, he added. "There is the need for a vision to ensure the prosperity, security, peace and sovereignty of both Turkish and Greek Cypriots,” he said.
Fidan also answered a question about fighting irregular migration, another problem troubling the relations. Ankara often accuses Athens of pushing back irregular immigrants crossing the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast. The Turkish minister stated that migration management dominated their foreign policy agenda for the past 15 years. He underlined that they endeavored both to manage migration and fight irregular migration. "Principally, we expect our counterparts to consider their responsibility stemming from international law in this fight against irregular migration," he said. "Cooperation in this field is for our mutual benefit," he added.
