Turkey-Greece thaw proceeds in shadow of Cyprus, territory disputes

Greek PM Mitsotakis meets Turkish Pres. Erdoğan in Ankara Monday. © TCCB

İSTANBUL – Few rival nations can disagree on Hamas and call it progress. But Turkey and Greece did just that Monday, releasing the latest sigh of relief in a series of high-level talks designed to thaw tensions between the long-quarreling neighbors.

In a cordial state visit, Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis Monday in Ankara, where the pair reaffirmed their commitments to resolve disputes through dialogue, as established with the bilateral Athens Declaration last year.

Areas for cooperation were highlighted, such as trade, tourism and crisis assistance, while the fresh point for disagreement – defining Hamas as a terrorist group – was addressed openly at a joint press conference and subdued when Mitsotakis said: “We can agree to disagree.”

Disputes remained over maritime boundaries, heritage sites and the Cyprus issue, yet analysts told Turkey recap the meeting was positive overall while highlighting points for future progress and problems in Turkey-Greece ties.

“The symbolism struck the right notes,” said Erol Kaymak, a fellow at the Centre for Applied Turkey Studies (CATS) at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) in Berlin. “[A] disagreement over Hamas is better than focusing on bickering over bilateral issues.”