Panel I: Emerging / Shared Concerns and Prerequisites for Türkiye and Greece

As we witnessed one of the most significant elections on the centennial of the Turkish Republic’s founding, Insight Turkey proudly presents a special issue that meticulously evaluates the elections and examines how Türkiye’s foreign policy will be shaped in their aftermath and we hope and believe that the insightful and stimulating debates raised on the issue will be helpful to our readers.

In this new volume of SETA Security Radar, we analyze the main dynamics shaping Türkiye’s security and geopolitical landscape with references to the most significant foreign policy and security issues throughout 2022.

As Ankara has made a number of crucial and successful moves in world politics while being led by President Erdoğan, 2022 was a challenging but fruitful year for Turkish foreign policy

Greece, seeking to expand in Aegean, Eastern Mediterranean seas, sacrificed independence as ‘proxy’ state

'The Cyprus question lies at the center of all Turkish-Greek relations and conflicts. It is a precondition for solving other bilateral issues between the two countries'

The U.S. has sent a cache of weapons to Greece, some of which were allocated on the Aegean islands. Thus, the U.S. government has indirectly supported Greece’s breach of international law. According to international treaties, these islands have a demilitarized status.

Hardly anyone is surprised by the Greek public’s concerns over Türkiye in this climate of fear. Such concerns or fears have been at the heart of Greek politics for many years.

‘Samarkand and New York summits have shown Türkiye’s determination of following an independent, diversified and global-scale foreign policy’

The West’s policy of otherization and alienation toward Türkiye, a 70-year NATO member, especially in the regional crises of Syria, EastMed and Karabakh is the result of Ankara’s claim for regional leadership and an autonomous global status

Anti-Turkish policies and narratives by Greek politicians have been consistently increasing during the current Greek government.

Ankara's policy towards Balkans in line with EU as it wants Balkan nations, including Türkiye, as EU members: Diplomat

Defense deals, lobby card encourage Greek aggression, increase risk of regional entrapments, undermine NATO's foundational element of collective defense

With elections approaching, Mitsotakis hopes to benefit from heightened tensions. However, it is a dangerous game to play

Greece has been playing a dangerous game recently with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean. There are several reasons why Greece is choosing to play this high-risk game and increase tensions with its neighbor.

The European Union leaders summit resulted in minor positive steps and a three-month extension. The description of steps for rapprochement as “gradual, proportional and reversible” was a textbook carrot-and-stick routine. Europe’s method of communication, too, was quite familiar.