The State Department official goes a step further than the German government spokesman: “The United States is pleased with the meeting of the leaders of Greece and Turkey. The American side encourages the talks,” a Greek newspaper quoted the American representative as saying. This is followed by the politically important phrase (addressed to Ankara) that for Washington Greek-Turkish normalization is a condition for better Turkish-American relations.

The representative of the German government did not want to establish this connection. He was content to say that Berlin encouraged the two sides to start talks and that Germany “has worked intensively for such a dialogue”.

The official statements of Washington and Berlin confirm the division of labor between the US and Germany in the current phase of the Greek-Turkish rapprochement. Apparently, Washington has entrusted Berlin with handling the details of Western mediation which – as we observe these days – is quite successful. Rarely have we seen such a density of Greek-Turkish high-level and top-level meetings.

On December 7, Mr. Erdogan and Mr. Mitsotakis intend to make a first assessment of the new phase of bilateral relations. The meeting will take place in Thessaloniki, a symbolic place in many ways. It will be interesting to see how the Turkish president will behave in Mustafa Kemal’s hometown, in the centenary year of the Turkish Republic.

Bilateral issues, but with an international dimension

In essence, the issues that Ankara and Athens will negotiate in the coming weeks and months are bilateral, transnational issues. Despite all this – and this explains the complexity of the matter – Greek-Turkish relations have always had an international dimension. Scholarly books dealing with the role of the “foreign factor” in the relations of the two countries fill the libraries – and new editions are added every year.

International involvement has two causes. Firstly, it is the result of foreign powers trying to exert influence in the strategically important region. This has been the case in the past and will remain so in the future. Putin’s war against Ukraine has increased the geostrategic importance of Greece and Turkey. The second – no less important – factor of the “internationalization” of Greek-Turkish relations concerns the efforts of the governments of Athens and Ankara to seek support outside the region in their bilateral dispute.

The mobilization of political, diplomatic and military support against the “Turkish threat” has been a constant element of Greek foreign policy in recent decades. The greatest success of this strategy was the accession of Greece and later Cyprus to the EU. The military alliances with America and France, the strategic upgrading of cooperation with Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia contribute to supporting Greek government officials that the country is in a better position vis-à-vis Turkey than ever before.

For Greek diplomacy, it is a success that Mr. Erdogan put an end to the policy of provocations and returned to the negotiating table. The fact that this happened is also due to the mediation of the West. In the bilateral negotiations, which are starting now, at various levels, the foreign factor does not play any role. Only the representatives of Greece and Turkey sit at the negotiating table.

For the government in Athens, a joint appeal to the International Court of Justice appears to be the preferred method for resolving the dispute over sovereign rights in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. A joint appeal to the International Court of Justice would be the culmination of the internationalization of bilateral disputes. It would place the resolution of the national question in “foreign hands.” In any case, this would be a bold strategy with an open effect. Such a development would prove that Greeks and Turks are unable to solve their problems on their own – and are dependent on the help of foreign mediators.

Dr. Ronald Mainardus is a political analyst and commentator and Principal Researcher of ELIAMEP. In the mid-1990s, he was director of the Hellenic Editorial Office of Deutsche Welle.