Oleksandr Demenko
PhD in Political Science, Associate Professor, State Institution “Institute of World History of the NAS of Ukraine”
DOI: 10.37837/2707-7683-2021-32
Abstract. The article examines Greek-Turkish relations, whose periodic aggravation is one of the pressing problems of modern international relations. The main reasons for the conflict in relations between Greece and Turkey are: the unresolved Cyprus problem; historical and civilisational contradictions; non-compliance with the rights of national minorities in both countries; the struggle for access to energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean; unresolved issues regarding the delimitation of territorial waters, the continental shelf, exclusive economic zones, and airspace in the Aegean Sea.
Analysis of the current stage in the development of Greek-Turkish relations allows us to make a conclusion about their instability and a high level of conflict potential, which is exacerbated by the irreconcilable positions of the parties on the key bilateral issues, historical prejudices, and domestic political factors. This has a negative impact on the security situation in the Eastern Mediterranean. At the same time, it is hoped that the political will of both countries, the resolute position of NATO, the EU, and the US on finding a mutually acceptable compromise and establishing dialogue, trust, and mutual tolerance between the two neighbouring states will eliminate the threat of a military conflict. The experience of dynamic cooperation between Greece and Turkey in the late 20th – early 21st centuries shows that the normalisation of relations between these countries is quite possible.
The reduction of confrontational potential will be facilitated by the following factors: renunciation of belligerent and offensive rhetoric and threats of the use of force; demilitarization of the Aegean basin; normalisation and development of Turkey’s relations with the European Union; strengthening of trade and economic relations between Greece and Turkey; search for opportunities to jointly produce and transport energy resources; cooperation in culture and tourism; efforts to reach a compromise in the settlement of the Cyprus problem.
Keywords: Greek-Turkish relations, conflict, Cyprus problem, ‘Aegean crisis’, Eastern Mediterranean.
References
1. Sribniak, I. (2006). Mizh Skhodom i Zakhodom: hreko-turetski mizhnatsionalni ta mizhderzhavni vidnosyny v istorychnii retrospektyvi [Between East and West: Greek-Turkish International and Interstate Relations in Historical Terms]. Ukrainska Oriientalistyka, Issue 1, pp. 10-21. Available at: http://ekmair.ukma.edu.ua/bitstream/handle/123456789/6365/Sribnyak_Mizh_sxodom_i_zaxodom.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y [Accessed 15 June 2021] [in Ukrainian].
2. Ulunian, A. (1998). Politicheskaya istoriya sovremennoy Gretsii. Konets XVIII v. – 90-e gg. XX v. [Political History of Modern Greece. The End of the 18th Century – 1990s]. Moscow: Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. [in Russian].
3. Voloshyn, Yu. (2008). Mizhnarodno-pravovi zasoby rozviazannia hreko-turetskoho konfliktu v konteksti protsesiv yevropeiskoi mizhderzhavnoi intehratsii [International Legal Means of the Greek-Turkish Conflict Resolution in the Context of the Processes of European Interstate Integration]. Scientific notes of the I.F.Kuras Institute of political and ethnic studies, Issue 37, pp. 253-263. [in Ukrainian].
4. Kvashnin, Yu. (2018). ‘Gretsiya i Turtsiya: starye travmy dayut o sebe znat’, Russian International Affairs Council, 25 April [online]. Available at: https://russiancouncil.ru/analytics-and-comments/analytics/gretsiya-i-turtsiya-starye-travmy-dayut-o-sebe-znat/#detail [Accessed 23 June 2021] [in Russian].
5. Ulunian, A. (2003). Gretsiya i Turtsiya mezhdu Zapadom i Vostokom (1950-e gody) [Greece and Turkey between West and East] in Yegotova, N., Chubarian, A. (eds). Kholodnaya voyna 1945-1963 gg. Istoricheskaya retrospectiva [Cold War 1945-1963. Historic Retrospective]. Moscow: OLMA-PRESS, pp. 406-430 [in Russian].
6. Logvinov, O. (2001). K istorii turetsko-grecheskikh protivorechiy [On the History of Turkish-Greek Controversy]. Crimean Scientific Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, no. 22, pp. 102-107. Available at: http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/bitstream/handle/123456789/81007/22-Logvinov.pdf?sequence=1 [Accessed 22 June 2021] [in Russian].
7. Logvinov, O. (2004). Voennye aspekty turetsko-grecheskikh otnodheniy vo vtoroy polovine XX stoletiya [Military Aspects of Turkish-Greek Relations in Latter Half of the 20th Century]. Moscow [in Russian].
8. Atrashkevich, A. (2019). Turtsiya i Gretsiya: politicheskie i ekonomicheskie otnosheniya v konfliktnykh usloviyakh (1999-2017 gg.) [Turkey and Greece: Political and Economic Relations within the Conflict Circumstances (1999-2017)]. Vestnik RUDN. International Relations, vol.19, no. 4, pp. 675-689 [in Russian]. 10.22363/2313-0660-2019-19-4-675-689
9. Lubotskaya, A. (2015). Osobennosti greko-turetskikh otnosheniy na sovremennom etape [Features of Greek-Turkish Relations at the Present Stage]. National Strategy Issues, no. 1 (28), pp. 24-39. [in Russian].
10. ‘Hreky paliat turetski prapory cherez Sofiiu, a Turechchyna radyt zabuty ‘vizantiisku mriiu’’ (2020). BBC News Ukraine, 25 July [online]. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-53539660 [Accessed 9 July 2021] [in Ukrainian].
11. Kozik, K. (2012). Turetsko-grecheskie otnosheniya v 1990-e gg. [Turkish-Greek Relations in 1990s]. Theory and Practice of Social Development, no. 1, pp. 202-205. [in Russian].
12. Kusa, I. (2020). ‘Na porozi viiny: chy mozhe NATO zupynyty konflikt Hretsii ta Turechchyny’, Yevropeiska Pravda, 31 August [online]. Available at: https://www.eurointegration.com.ua/articles/2020/08/31/7113703/ [Accessed 24 June 2021] [in Ukrainian].
13. Popov, V. (2021). ‘Napryazhennost v Vostochnom Sredizemnomorye’, Russian International Affairs Council, 3 June [online]. Available at: https://russiancouncil.ru/analytics-and-comments/columns/postsoviet/napryazhennost-v-vostochnom-sredizemnomore/?sphrase_id=83957455 [Accessed 13 August] [in Russian].
14. Hlebov, S. (2020). ‘Alians myrotvorchyi: yak vdalosia zapobihty novii viini mizh Turechchynoiu ta Hretsiieiu’, Yevropeiska Pravda, 25 September [online]. Available at: https://www.eurointegration.com.ua/articles/2020/09/25/7114671/ [Accessed 9 July] [in Ukrainian].
15. Habrielian, Ye. (2021). ‘«Proiasnyty mistse Turechchyny v NATO»: navishcho Makron posylyv krytyku polityky Erdohana’, Yevropeiska Pravda, 25 March [online]. Available at: https://www.eurointegration.com.ua/articles/2021/03/25/7121297/ [Accessed 9 July] [in Ukrainian].
16. Semenov, A. (2020). ‘Gaz yest, a draki net: gotova li Turtsiya voyevat za resursy Sredizemnogo morya’, Russian International Affairs Council, 9 June [online]. Available at: https://russiancouncil.ru/analytics-and-comments/analytics/gaz-est-a-draki-net-gotova-li-turtsiya-voevat-za-resursy-sredizemnogo-morya/?sphrase_id=8395 [Accessed 13 August] [in Russian].
17. ‘Lidery YeS rozpovily, yak planuiut dali vzaiemodiiaty z Turechchynoiu’ (2021). Yevropeiska Pravda, 26 March [online]. Available at: https://www.eurointegration.com.ua/news/2021/03/26/7121356/ [Accessed 9 July] [in Ukrainian].
18. Andreev, V. (2021). ‘Strategiya Turetskoy Respubliki na Zapadnykh Balkanakh’, Russian International Affairs Council, 5 March [online]. Available at: https://russiancouncil.ru/analytics-and-comments/columns/sandbox/strategiya-turetskoy-respubliki-na-zapadnykh-balkanakh/ [Accessed 24 June 2021] [in Russian].
19. Avatkov, V. (2021). Vneshnyaya i vnutrennyaya politika Turtsiyi. Klyuchevyye izmeneniya 2020 g. [Turkey’s Foreign and Domestic Policy. Key Changes in 2020]. Svobodnaya mysl, no.1, pp. 81-90. [in Russian].
20. Avatkov, V., Sbitneva, A. (2020). Politicheskiy kurs sovremennoy Turtsiyi. Glavnye osobennosti vnutrenney i vneshney politiki 2019 g. [Political Course of Modern Turkey. The Main Features of Domestic and Foreign Policy in 2019]. Svobodnaya mysl, no. 2. Available at: http://svom.info/entry/1022-politicheskij-kurs-sovremennoj-turcii-glavnye-osob/ [Accessed 24 June] [in Russian].