New opportunities will emerge for Turkey and Greece if they can diplomatically resolve their problems. However, both sides, especially the Greek and the Greek Cypriots, were conditioned to be confrontational in their discourse with Turkey.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias to visit Ankara on Thursday

If they were more supportive, Washington and Brussels could help Ankara and Athens improve their bilateral initiatives

Ankara and Athens have a great diplomatic chance to put an end to their yearslong maritime dispute

The analysis examines the recent maritime boundary delimitation agreement signed between Greece and Egypt, and discusses its implications for the Greek-Turkish dispute in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Greece continues to escalate tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean amid calls from the European Union for dialogue. In addition to conducting military exercises, Athens deployed troops to the island of Kastellorizo (Megisti-Meis) and is preparing to conclude an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) agreement with the Greek Cypriots – similar to Athens' controversial deal with Egypt. Last but not least, Greek leaders fueled tensions last week by talking about extending their claims in the Ionian Sea to 12 nautical miles.

The analysis provides an overview of the two central security challenges Greece faces today, namely the energy rivalry with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean/Libya, and the mass influx of refugees at the Greek-Turkish border, and discusses the prospects for a renewed Greek-Turkish détente.

In an interview with The Washington Post last week, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that if Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan "wants an honest conversation with the European Union, the best way would be to stop threatening to send hundreds of thousands of refugees to its shores." "We can have an honest discussion with President Erdoğan," he added. "He needs financial support."

At a time when Turkey and Greece have had significant disagreements, Tsipras' meeting with Erdoğan can be considered a confidence-building step

Europe proved to be extremely ineffective and inefficient in dealing with the refugee crises, and to not perpetuate its mistakes it needs to adopt a new security framework to deal with the increasing threat of terrorism

If TANAP and Turkish Stream successfully create the expected synergy, Turkey will become both a regional energy hub and a major player in global energy diplomacy.

In order to preserve the warm atmosphere between Greece and Turkey, the two countries need to develop networks of social and cultural dialogue and strengthen economic cooperation.

On July 13, 2009, an intergovernmental accord on the proposed Nabucco gas pipeline was signed. The 3.300 kilometer long pipeline will transport Caspian, Iraqi and likely Iranian gas in the future depending on the changing situation and its relationship with the USA, and to a lesser extent Egyptian natural gas resources, via Turkey to Austria. The Turkish leg of the pipeline will be 2000 kilometers long.Given that the pipeline is designed to export non-Russian Caspian resources – Azeri, Kazakh, and Turkmeni - to European markets, thereby, diversifying energy supplies for western energy markets, several European states and the US have supported this project. The project is planned to become operational in 2014 with an estimated cost of 7.9 billion euros (10.6 billion dollars). In addition to enhancing its energy corridor role, the pipeline will provide significant benefits to Turkey in terms of revenues, employment, etc.