As Erdoğan Heads to Athens... A Statue and a Giraffe!..

You may have heard; Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis went to the UK last week. He had an appointment with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak; however, Sunak canceled this meeting at the last minute.

Naturally, tension arose between the two countries. Sunak accused Mitsotakis of “playing to the gallery.” While Mitsotakis, who tried to downplay the situation by calling it an “unfortunate event,” said this would not affect Greek-British relations in the long term, the Greek opposition and public opinion described Sunak's attitude as “an unbelievable provocation worthy of banana republics.”

THE CAUSE OF THE CRISIS

The reason for the incident, which amounts to a diplomatic scandal, was as follows:

In an interview with the British media before his London visit, Mitsotakis complained that negotiations regarding the return of the Parthenon sculptures—which are part of the Athens Acropolis and are exhibited in the British Museum—to Athens were not progressing fast enough. He compared having some of the sculptures in London and some in Athens to “cutting the Mona Lisa in half” and explained that they should be returned.

These statements angered Sunak, and Sunak canceled the appointment. According to the British side, Greece had given assurances that it would not bring up the issue of the return of the sculptures in a public manner.

Mitsotakis, who informed Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou after the development, drew a positive conclusion from the event, stating, “Greece's rightful demand for the reunification of the Parthenon sculptures has found more resonance not only in the UK but also in world public opinion.” President Sakellaropoulou also made the following assessment:

“We all watched what happened in London. The Parthenon is important for world cultural heritage because it symbolizes democracy and philosophy. The demand for the reunification of the sculptures, made since the establishment of the modern Greek state, has marked an important achievement by gaining the understanding of the international community and the British public. Our country's rightful demand will find a response.”

In short; it was a statue dispute, and it was a striking example of how diplomacy can be turned upside down to protect historical artifacts.

ANKARA IS AGAIN IN A “WIN-WIN” MOOD

There is no need to count the problems between us and Greece one by one. There are dozens of vital issues where we are right, but where Greece—far from taking a step back—has made progress against us every passing year. Despite this, Ankara is always chasing a “positive agenda” and “normalization.”

Indeed, in three days, Erdoğan will go to Athens as part of the High-Level Cooperation Council meeting and meet with Mitsotakis. According to the pro-government media, this meeting is seen as an opportunity to improve relations after the tense years that have passed... Positive messages will be emphasized... And it is expected that the two countries will proceed cautiously to make positive progress on sensitive issues such as islands, the continental shelf, and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Erdoğan, who until recently said, “There is no one named Mitsotakis for me anymore,” and sent messages to Greece saying, “We may come suddenly one night,” is also quite optimistic these days. Returning from the United Arab Emirates, which he visited recently, he expressed his hope that a new era would begin with the Athens visit and said:

“I always have an expression, I say, 'We are trying to increase friends and decrease enemies.' I believe it is useful to say this to him very openly and clearly in our bilateral meeting, just as I have said before. Because when you call out from Turkey, that voice is heard from Kos Island. It is not right for two countries whose distance is so close and whose history is so intertwined to continue with voices that still fuel hostility.”

Then, asking the question, “Who is inciting us?” he spoke as follows:

“Some, especially the USA, are making an effort to pit us against each other. While our F-16s are not given to us even though we paid for them, they are still sending F-16s and ammunition to Greece. Just because America is doing this, we surely have no intention of backing down. We will pay our visit to our neighbor right next to us, we will sit and talk. If we are not involved in attitudes that will harm each other's interests, there is no problem. We will continue on our way. Of course, we have differences of opinion and there are deep issues whose resolution is not possible in one go. But there are also topics that we can solve immediately and that will expand the ground for cooperation. If we can start a new era, keep the promises made, and develop these relations on a plane cleared of external influences, I am sure we will come out profitable. Our foreign policy understanding is not 'Let me win, let the other side lose.' We will go to Athens with a 'win-win' understanding. There, we will discuss both our bilateral relations and Turkey-European Union relations to take decisions worthy of the spirit of the new era.”

Let us also make a few observations regarding this approach.

- The US has been behind Greece not just today, but since the Morea revolt. Likewise, the EU and NATO are also the spokespersons and patrons of Greece. But for some reason, the AKP cannot give up on any of them.

- Since 2002, Greece has harmed our country's interests so much by relying on these powers that one wonders what more it could do to be considered a “problem”?

GREECE IS SEEKING TO STALL

Let's look at the Greek side. It is so obvious that they are using these “dialogue” processes to stall Turkey while continuing to do as they please!..

It is enough to look at the statements of Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis regarding Thursday's meeting; he emphasized that “thanks to strong governments, calm has prevailed in the Aegean for months.” In other words, he implied that “Turkey is no longer operating in the Aegean.”

Gerapetritis, while saying, “Issues of national sovereignty can in no way be a subject of discussion,” and talking about “remaining committed to international law and the fundamental principles of good neighborliness,” noted that “they are focusing more on the commercial and economic agenda.”

WHICH ISLANDS ARE NEXT?

It is obvious that our side will return with a bunch of commercial agreements to be presented as a “victory,” but let us just report some events that have occurred in the last 15 days.

It was reported that a NOTAM was issued to Athens due to a military exercise of ours that also included the Zürafa (Anthropofas) island, located right next to Alexandroupoli and Gökçeada. Greek Foreign Minister Gerapetritis, while claiming that the Zürafa islet was not in Turkey's NOTAM, said the following:

“The Turks annexed this island in the past, but it is our sovereignty issue. The island is Greek territory.”

In the same speech, Gerapetritis said, “In the last 8 months, we have had a total of 8 violations (by Turkey) in our airspace, whereas this number was 1,000 last January,” while emphasizing that “they could unilaterally extend their territorial waters to 12 miles if they deem it appropriate diplomatically and politically.”

There was not a peep from Ankara, which is preparing for the High-Level Cooperation Council meeting with Greece, in response to these claims. We only heard Yeniden Refah Party Istanbul Deputy Doğan Bekin say, “Zürafa Island in the Aegean Sea is a piece of land whose sovereignty belongs to Turkey. The Greek Foreign Minister made a statement that exceeded his limits. Greece is trying to present this island as a fait accompli, just like the other 20 islands.”

You know how Erdoğan does not want other countries to interfere in Turkey-Greece relations; 10 days ago, the following also happened:

Greece, the USA, France, the Greek Cypriot administration, Bulgaria, and Georgia held a military training exercise in Xanthi. Greek Defense Minister Dendias, who participated in the exercise, boasted that “the large and unprecedented French military presence in Northern Greece is his own work,” and noted that “friendly and allied countries that share the same understanding of international law have proven the importance of cooperation.”

Four days ago—although it corrected it after reactions—the Greek state television ERT broadcast a graphic showing our lands in Thrace in Greek colors.

But, as can be seen, Erdoğan and his team are preparing to go to Athens as if none of this ever happened.

In short, look at the state of Ankara while England does this to Greece for a statue, and see the power of our foreign policy!..