The leaders of Türkiye and Greece, recent from reelection this May and June, are each honest and well-equipped to resolve longstanding tensions between the 2 nations as they keep a current discount in tensions, in line with a distinguished Greek professional on battle decision.
On the Greek aspect, the appointment of pro-solution and liberal George Gerapetritis, near Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as overseas minister to switch the hawkish Nikos Dendias, for instance, reveals Mitsotakis’ willingness for decision, Alexis Heraclides informed Anadolu.
“The strong mandate he got in the June 25 elections and his profile as a defender of Greek interests also give Mitsotakis confidence and authority to elevate the current positive climate with Türkiye and finally resolve the long-standing dispute between the two countries,” stated Heraclides, a senior professional on Turkish-Greek relations at Athens’ Panteion University.
He burdened, nonetheless, that nationalism and even anti-Turkish emotions are sturdy in Greek society and politics, and this has been a serious impediment to a decision between the 2 NATO allies.
Criticism of Mitsotakis from opposition events, together with the leftist SYRIZA, PASOK, and Greek Communist Party, proves how widespread Greek nationalism is even in left-wing politics, which many instances up to now undermined efforts to enhance relations with Türkiye, stated Heraclides.
According to Heraclides, in Türkiye, alternatively, the state of affairs is kind of completely different.
“First and foremost, (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan can convince his voters, which constitute over half of the population. And secondly, there are no inherent anti-Greek feelings among voters of other parties in Türkiye. Overall, Türkiye was always more ready and eager to engage in dialogue, which can lead to a permanent resolution,” he underlined.
For instance, Erdoğan took severe and honest initiatives greater than as soon as to resolve each issues with Greece and the Cyprus dispute but it surely was all the time the Greek aspect or Greek Cypriots who spoiled the efforts, Heraclides argued.
EXTERNAL FACTORS BEHIND PUSH FOR RESOLUTION
Since the newest main escalation between Türkiye and Greece, issues have modified drastically within the Eastern Mediterranean and on this planet normally, Heraclides stated, including that Washington needs a stronger and extra unified NATO within the mild of the continuing Ukraine struggle.
“Having understood that Erdoğan is here at least for another five years as a result of the Turkish election in May, and that tension between Ankara and Athens weakens the southeastern flank of NATO, the U.S. pushed Greece to improve relations with Türkiye,” he famous.
Heraclides stated that main regional actors reminiscent of Israel and Egypt at the moment are normalizing relations with Türkiye whereas the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are even looking for to raise relations to a strategic degree.
“Against this backdrop, Greece came to the conclusion that the time has arrived for a new reset in relations,” he stated, including that enhancing ties would contribute to stability and prosperity within the area.
Heraclides additionally burdened that higher relations with Türkiye would profit the Greek economic system.
“I’m not only talking about cooperation in the fields of tourism, logistics, or boosting the bilateral trade volume. Greece has things to learn from Türkiye, for example, in providing a quality, efficient public health system,” he added.
“By and large, I reiterate that Mitsotakis, like Erdoğan, is sincere, and hope that he wouldn’t allow anti-Türkiye forces in the country to lead us to miss this great change too,” Heraclides stated.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
