By Antonis Anzoletou

The minor turbulence that remains at the level of provocative rhetoric is expected on Greek-Turkish relations. Athens wants to avoid the big “storms” from Ankara, and in the last 15 months everything has been going smoothly. The recent appointment of Kyriakos Mitsotakis with Tayyip Erdogan confirmed the good atmosphere with the differences remaining. Turkey, however, is reportedly starting its own initiative to map marine parks in the Aegean. Even this could be considered to be expected despite the fact that if such a process begins it will not be simple. What do these outbursts from the Turkish leadership show? How the “difficult” issues are impossible for both sides to approach.

As much as the two foreign ministers Giorgos Gerapetritis and Hakan Fidan have orders to look for where some common points of contact could be found. The priority, of course, is to ensure the avoidance of any “accident”. Their appointments will be important from now on, as will new possible meetings of Alexandra Papadopoulou with her counterpart Farouk Kaimaktsi for the development of the political dialogue. There is no doubt that Tayyip Erdogan has not withdrawn any of his claims. All this becomes important given that the two leaders will be in the same place in Washington in July at the NATO summit, but also in New York at the UN General Assembly where they regularly hold a four-four meeting.

The Greek side is in an advantageous position

The Greek side is in an advantageous position not only from the good armament programs that are running and giving it a position of power in sea and air, but also from the fact that the Turkish side has lost the momentum since the cancellation of his appointment Tayyip Erdogan with Joe Biden. In November, the very crucial elections will be held on the other side of the Atlantic and a lot will depend on the new occupant of the White House. Especially on how Ankara will be able to take advantage of a possible return of Donald Trump. A calm summer is needed first and the “signs” so far are generally good.

The story of the “Blue Homeland”

A worrying element in the future of Greek-Turkish relations is the fact that Tayyip Erdoğan, with his eyes fixed on his reputation and not only, wishes to raise the new Turkish generation with the story of “Blue Country”. He includes the illegal Turkish-Libyan memorandum in the school books, while at the same time, on the occasion of the anniversary of the fall of Constantinople, he reintroduces in his rhetoric revisionist narratives about the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque. It is the new datum of the revisionist agenda of the neighbors that cannot be simply passed over. High on the list of challenges is the fact that the Chora Monastery and Hagia Sophia, which since 1985 have been included in the world heritage monuments as “parts of historical areas” of Istanbul, have not been respected.

Tayyip Erdoğan knows that he leads a “giant” and wants to show it constantly. It has a huge army, is preparing to operate a nuclear power plant, is developing the military industry, and the population of its country is approaching 90 million. At the same time, he builds Mosques not only throughout the territory of Turkey, but also in the Balkans. He knows in any case that everyone’s attention is on him.