The foreign ministers of Turkey and Greece, Mevlüt Çavuşoglu and Nikos Dendias, exchanged sharp criticism after a bilateral summit in Ankara

Turkish and Greek foreign ministers stage their differences during a joint press conference

photo_camera PHOTO/Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores de Turquía via REUTERS - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias at a press conference in Ankara, Turkey, 15 April 2021.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias in Ankara on Thursday. In the same room and on the same couch where Ursula von der Leyen sat during the summit between the European Union and Turkey, which ended with the Turkish President rebuffing the President of the European Commission with the connivance of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

The Turkish president summoned his government's foreign policy chief, Mevlüt Çavuşoglu, to the meeting. The leaders again reviewed the multiple fronts between the two sides, ranging from the exploitation of energy resources in Eastern Mediterranean waters to political control over Cyprus, as well as the violation of air and sea borders and their differences on migration issues. 

The visit marked the first formal rapprochement between the direct representatives of the two countries after the threat of confrontation in the Mediterranean. The two NATO allies deployed their full maritime arsenal last summer following Turkey's dispatch of an energy research vessel to maritime areas under Greek sovereignty. Tensions eased in January after an initial contact. 

El presidente turco Tayyip Erdogan, acompañado de su ministro de Asuntos Exteriores, Mevlut Cavusoglu, se reúne con el ministro de Asuntos Exteriores griego, Nikos Dendias, en Ankara, Turquía, el 15 de abril de 2021 PHOTO/ Oficina de Prensa Presidencial via REUTERS

The respective delegations of Greece and Turkey held a series of negotiations, first in Istanbul and then in Athens, without making significant progress. In this sense, Dendias' visit aims to encourage dialogue and facilitate a future summit between the heads of state of the two countries. However, the two countries have been engaged in a diplomatic dispute since 1970, and have held more than 60 summits since 2000.

The foreign policy representatives of their respective countries, Nikos Dendias and Mevlüt Çavuşoglu, gave an account of the meeting in the press room after the meeting. The initial calm atmosphere of the meeting soon turned into a rough dialectical dispute between the two leaders. It was the Greek minister who started the hostilities: "Turkey has violated international law in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean".

The dispute over the violation of Greek sovereignty was one of the critical points of the appearance. "Turkey has also violated our sovereignty after flying over Greece 400 times, over Greek soil, Mevlüt, over Greek soil," said Nikos Dendias. The Greek minister said that this is one of the reasons why it is difficult for Turkey to join the European Union. 

"You come here and try to accuse Turkey, to give a message to your country. It is not possible for you to accept that," Çavuşoglu replied. "If you accuse my country and my people harshly in front of the press, I have to be in a position to respond to that." Çavuşoglu himself stressed in this regard that Turkish incursions in the eastern Mediterranean are "totally legal".

Mapa del Mediterráneo occidental con las reivindicaciones de fronteras marítimas de Turquía, Grecia y Chipre AFP/AFP

The Turkish foreign minister also reiterated calls for the demilitarisation of several Greek islands in the Aegean, and qualified his Greek counterpart in response to Dendias' comments on violations of the Lausanne Treaty - the agreement that delimits the border between the two: "You only bring up what suits you". Dendias, for his part, pointed out that the islands are militarised for an obvious reason, as there are Turkish military forces on the opposite coast.

Frictions in Cyprus and migration crisis

During previous negotiations, Turkey raised a resolution to the situation of the Muslim minority in the Greek region of Thrace. The Ottoman authorities advocated the creation of joint committees for the restoration of Ottoman monuments in the Hellenic country. Ankara also accused Athens of expelling 18,000 migrants, which Dendias rejected.

Çavuşoglu argued that Greece "only recognised the Turkish Muslim minority as Muslim and does not allow them to express their Turkish roots, not even by giving Turkish names to their children", and defended the right of Muslims in Thrace to call themselves Turks", regardless of what the Lausanne treaties call them. "There is a Muslim minority in Greece, it is recognised by the Treaty of Lausanne, this is the opinion of the Greek state", Minister Dendias acknowledged.

However, the key issue in political terms lies in Cyprus. Erdogan demanded a two-state solution on the island, divided since Turkey's 1974 invasion in reaction to a Greek-backed coup. The EU and the UN support the creation of a two-state federation to resolve the conflict, and Dendias admitted that "the only solution that is accepted by the entire international community is the bi-zonal-bi-communal federation in Cyprus. There must be an abstention from actions that violate the rights of the Republic of Cyprus".

The leaders shared accusations on the migration crisis. The Turkish coastguard, as well as numerous refugee rights organisations, have accused the Greek coastguard of carrying out illegal summary deportations. According to Çavuşoglu, Greece returned 80,000 migrants to the Aegean Sea in four years, "even pushing back into the sea those who did not make it through Turkey".

El buque turco de investigación sísmica Oruc Reis en el Bósforo en Estambul REUTERS/YORUK ISIK

For its part, Greece denies carrying out refoulements and accuses Turkey of failing to take action against migrant smugglers operating from its shores. "As far as immigration is concerned, Turkey should not teach Greece a lesson after the events of March", minister Dendias defended. 

During the half-hour hearing, neither Çavuşoglu nor his Greek counterpart capitulated. Each defended his version vehemently, but the harsh tone dissipated as soon as the round of questions ended. "I hope our disagreement did not lead you to cancel the dinner invitation. Because I am exceptionally hungry," Dendias acknowledged, referring to the Iftar, the Ramadan fast-breaking meal they were scheduled to celebrate together.

"A necessary condition for the improvement of bilateral relations between Greece and Turkey is the reduction of tension and the avoidance of provocative actions," the Greek minister warned.  "Greece is ready to slowly start a positive agenda with Turkey. This does not mean abandoning international law, the European acquis. The EU is not a third party. It is our family, the proudest example of states living together in history."

"We have agreed to continue the dialogue with Dendias. We discussed bilateral issues, the problems of our family, the fight against terrorism, immigration and regional issues, the Turkish minister said. "We expect a more sincere and constructive attitude from Greece". 

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