Monday, July 24, marked 100 years since Treaty of Lausanne. Although a century has passed since its signing until today, the Treaty of Lausanne is still of great importance for Greek-Turkish relations and the formulation of Turkey’s foreign policy. As Welt comments, “the Treaty of Lausanne is a means for President Erdogan to upset the international community again and again with provocative positions.”

The Berlin newspaper points out that “in recent years, Turkey’s president has repeatedly threatened to revise the status of the Aegean islands off the Turkish coast, if necessary by military means. According to Welt, Lesvos, Chios, Samos and Ikaria, as well as the Dodecanese with Rhodes and Kos, were ceded to Greece under the Treaty, on the condition that they be demilitarized. But when, during the Cyprus conflict in 1974, Turkish troops landed on the large island and established the – internationally unrecognized – “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”, Athens moved troops to the Eastern Aegean, being in self-defense against the gatherings of Turkish troops, as stated in its justification.

Turkish nationalists see this as a violation of the Lausanne Treaty, and when Erdogan serves their arguments, he presents himself as a strong foreign policy leader. That’s how he succeeds to somewhat divert attention from the destructive his economic policy at home…”, concludes the German medium.