Greece–Turkey relations

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Greece–Turkey relations

Greece	Turkey
Diplomatic mission
Embassy of Greece, Ankara	Embassy of Turkey, Athens

Relations between Greece and the Turkey states have been marked by alternating periods of mutual hostility and reconciliation ever since Greece won its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830. Since then, the two countries have faced each other in four major wars—the Greco-Turkish War (1897), the First Balkan War (1912–1913), the First World War (1914–1918), and finally the Greco-Turkish War (1919–22), which were followed by the Greco-Turkish population exchange and a period of friendly relations in the 1930s and 1940s. Both countries entered NATO in 1952. Relations deteriorated again after the 1950s due to the 1955 Istanbul pogrom, the Cyprus issue, and the expulsion of the Istanbul Greeks in the 1960s, the 1974 Cypriot coup d'etat, immediately followed by the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the Imia/Kardak military crisis in 1996 and subsequent military confrontations over the Aegean dispute. A period of relative normalization began after 1999 with the so-called "earthquake diplomacy", which notably led to a change in the previously firmly negative stance of the Greek government on the issue of the accession of Turkey to the European Union. As of 2022, military tensions have risen again due to conflicts over maritime zones in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. However, Greece and Turkey remain in NATO, with a history of participation in alliance operations such as the Korea, Afghanistan, Libya and other NATO operations.

Diplomatic missions[]

• Turkey's missions in Greece include its embassy in Athens and consulates general in Thessaloniki, Komotini and Rhodes.
• Greece's missions in Turkey include its embassy in Ankara and consulates general in Istanbul, İzmir and Edirne.

History[]

Background[]

Historical overview of the region[]

For three thousand years, the land that comprises modern Greece and modern Turkey before their division as nation states had a long shared history.

Modern day Greece is territory that was during the classical period mostly controlled by Ancient Greek city states and kingdoms (900–146 BC), the Macedonian Empire (335-323 BC) and subsequent Hellenistic States (323-146 BC) following by the Roman era starting with the Roman Republic (146–27 BC), then the Roman Empire (27 BC–395 AD), and in the medieval period the Byzantine Empire (395–1204, 1261–1453) before the conquest by the Ottoman Empire until the Greek revolution that formed Greece.

The Greek presence in Asia Minor dates at least from the Late Bronze Age (1450 BC).^[1] Starting around 1200 BC, the coast of Turkey's Anatolia was heavily settled by Aeolian and Ionian Greeks, by the 6th century BC conquered by the Persian Achaemenid Empire, then 334 Alexander the Great's Macedonian Empire followed by the Hellenistic States and the Roman era (Roman Republic, Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire), the subsequent colonisation by Turkic people with powers such as the Seljuq Empire (1037–1194), the Seljuq Sultanate of Rum (1077–1307) and the Ottoman Empire (1299–1923) until its defeat during World War 1 and the subsequent Turkish revolution that formed Turkey.

The Byzantine Empire and Ottoman Empire, although different regimes to the modern nations of Greece and Turkey, factor into the nations' modern relations as heritage.^[2] Some academics claim Turkey is not a successor state but the legal continuation of the Ottoman Empire as a Republic.^[3][4]

Byzantine and Göktürk relations: 6th–7th centuries[]

The Göktürks of the First Turkic Khaganate, which came to prominence in 552 CE, were the first Turkic state to use the name Türk politically.^[5] They played a major role with the Byzantine Empire's relationship with the Persian Sasanian Empire.^[6] The first contact is believed to be 563 and relates to the incident in 558 where the slaves of the Turks (the Pannonian Avars) ran away during their war with the Hephthalites.^[6][7]

The second contact occurred when Maniah, a Sogdian diplomat, convinced Istämi (known as Silziboulos in Greek writings^[8]) of the Göktürks to send an embassy directly to the Byzantine Empire's capital Constantinople, which arrived in 568 and offered silk as a gift to emperor Justin II. While the Sogdians were only interested in trade, the Turks in the embassy proposed an alliance against the Persians which Justin agreed to.^[9] The Persians had previously broken their alliance with the Turks due to the competitive threat they represented.^[10] This alliance guaranteed the arrival of west-bound silks from China^[11] and increased the risk of a war on two fronts for the Persians, with hostilities that would eventuate with the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591.^[12] In 569 an embassy led by Zemarchus occurred which was well received and likely solidified their alliance for war.^[6][13]

Another set of embassies occurred in 575-576 led by Valentine which were received with hostility by Turxanthos due to alleged treachery.^[7] They required the members of the Byzantine delegation at the funeral of Istämi to lacerate their faces to humiliate them.^[14] The subsequent hostility shown by the new ruler Tardu^[14][15] would be matched in Byzantine writings.^[16] With the insults reflecting a breakdown of the alliance, the likely cause is that the anger was due to the Turks not having their expectations met from their agreements and realising they were being used when they no longer aligned with the current goals of the Byzantine Empire (who correspondingly lacked trust in the Turks as partners).^[6]

Years later, they would collaborate again when their interest aligned. The Turks attacked the Avars when they sacked a Byzantine city in the Balkans (Anchialos in 584). Toward the end of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, the Turks allied with the Byzantine Empire and played a decisive role with the Third Perso-Turkic War.

Byzantine and Seljuk-Ottoman relations: 11th–15th centuries[]

The Seljuk Turks was a Sunni Muslim dynasty from the Qiniq branch of the Oghuz Turks.^[17] They gradually became Persianate and contributed to the Turco-Persian tradition^[18][19] in the medieval Middle East and Central Asia. The Seljuks established both the Seljuk Empire and the Sultanate of Rum, which at their heights stretched from modern day Iran to Anatolia, and were targets of the First Crusade.

• After the conquest of territories in present-day Iran by the Seljuq Empire, a large number of Oghuz Turks arrived on the Byzantine Empire's borderlands of Armenia in the late 1040s. Eager for plunder and distinction in the path of jihad, they began raiding the Byzantine provinces in Armenia.^[20] At the same time, the eastern defenses of the Byzantine Empire had been weakened by Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos (r. 1042–1055), who allowed the thematic troops (provincial levies) of Iberia and Mesopotamia to relinquish their military obligations in favour of tax payments.^[21] As a consequence of this invasion, the Battle of Kapetron occurred in 1048.
• Over the next century, the Byzantine and Seljuk armies would fight many battles, with the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 considered a turning point in the history of Anatolia. The legacy of this defeat would be the loss of the Byzantine Empire's Anatolian heartland.^[22][23] The battle itself did not directly change the balance of power between the Byzantines and the Seljuks; however the ensuing civil war within the Byzantine Empire did, to the advantage of the Seljuks.^[24]
• Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, worried about the advances of the Seljuks in the aftermath of the Battle of Manzikert of 1071 who had reached as far west as Nicaea, sent envoys to the Council of Piacenza in March 1095 to ask Pope Urban II for aid against the invading Turks.^[25] What followed was the First Crusade.
• The Seljuk sultans bore the brunt of the Crusades and eventually succumbed to the Mongol invasion at the 1243 Battle of Köse Dağ. For the remainder of the 13th century, the Seljuks acted as vassals of the Ilkhanate.^[26] Their power disintegrated during the second half of the 13th century. The last of the Seljuk vassal sultans of the Ilkhanate, Mesud II, was murdered in 1308.

The dissolution of the Seljuk state left behind many small Turkish principalities. Among them were the Ottoman dynasty, which originated from the Kayı tribe^{[nb 1]} branch of the Oghuz Turks in 1299,^[28] and which eventually conquered the rest and reunited Anatolia to become the Ottoman Empire. Over the next 150 years, the Byzantine–Ottoman wars were a series of decisive conflicts between the Ottoman Turks and Byzantines that led to the final destruction of the Byzantine Empire and the dominance of the Ottoman Empire.

In 1453, the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire. They followed by conquering its splinter states, such as the Despotate of the Morea in 1460, the Empire of Trebizond in 1461, and the Principality of Theodoro in 1475.

Ottoman and Romioi/Rum relations: 1453–1821[]

All of modern Greece by the time of the capture of the Desporate of the Morea was under Ottoman authority, with the exception of some of the islands.

• Islands such as Rhodes (1522), Cyprus (1571), and Crete (1669) resisted longer due to other empires that came into power from the Frankokratia days
• The Ionian Islands were never ruled by the Ottomans, with the exception of Kefalonia (from 1479 to 1481 and from 1485 to 1500), and remained under the rule of the Republic of Venice until their capture by the First French Republic in 1797, then passed to the United Kingdom in 1809 until their unification with Greece in 1864.^[29]
• The mountains of Greece were largely untouched, and were a refuge for Greeks who desired to flee Ottoman rule and engage in guerrilla warfare.^[30]
• In 1770, the Ottoman army invaded the Mani, one of a series of battles by the Ottomans to subdue the Maniots. The Ottoman's would attempt again in 1803, 1807 and 1815.

Life under the Ottoman Empire had several dimensions

• All conquered Orthodox Christians would be included in the Rum Millet (millet-i Rûm) or the "Roman nation", and enjoyed a certain autonomy.^[31] It was named after Roman ("Romioi" in Greek and "Byzantine" by modern historians) subjects of the Ottoman Empire. Christian Orthodox Greeks, Bulgarians, Albanians, Georgians, Arabs, Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, and Serbs were all considered part of the same millet and the religious hierarchy was dominated by Greeks^[31] (but there is evidence that they had different names with Rum representing Greeks only).^[32]
• Devshirme was a child levy (in Greek: paidomazoma) which was emotionally traumatic for families.^[33] Boys were recruited and forcefully converted to Islam to serve the state but it was also done as a means to dismantle clan ties and dissolve traditions.^[34] Historian Constantine Paparrigopoulos estimated 1 million boys were recruited as Janissaries^{[citation needed]}; a figure closer to 1 in 40 is more likely.^[35]
• Dhimmi were subject to the heavy jizya tax, which was about 20%, versus the Muslim zakat, which was about 3%.^{[36][better source needed]} Other major taxes were the Defter and İspençe and the more severe haraç, whereby a document was issued which stated that "the holder of this certificate is able to keep his head on the shoulders since he paid the Χαράτσι tax for this year..." All these taxes were waived if the person converted to Islam.^[37][38][39]

Romioi in various places of the Greek peninsula would at times rise up against Ottoman rule, taking advantage of wars the Ottoman Empire would engage in. Those uprisings were of mixed scale and impact.

• During the Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479), the Maniot Kladas brothers, Krokodelos and Epifani, were leading bands of stratioti on behalf of Venice against the Turks in Southern Peloponnese. They put Vardounia and their lands into Venetian possession, for which Epifani then acted as governor.^[40]
• Before and after the victory of the Holy League in 1571 at the Battle of Lepanto a series of conflicts broke out in the peninsula such as in Epirus, Phocis (recorded in the Chronicle of Galaxeidi) and the Peloponnese, led by the Melissinos brothers and others. They were crushed by the following year.^[41] Short-term revolts on the local level occurred throughout the region such as the ones led by metropolitan bishop Dionysius the Philosopher in Thessaly (1600) and Epirus (1611).^[42]
• During the Cretan War (1645–1669), the Maniots would aid Francesco Morosini and the Venetians in the Peloponnese.^[43] Greek irregulars also aided the Venetians through the Morean War in their operations on the Ionian Sea and Peloponnese.^[44]
• A major uprising during that period was the Orlov Revolt (Greek: Ορλωφικά) which took place during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) and triggered armed unrest in both the Greek mainland and the islands.^[45]
• In 1778, a Greek fleet of seventy vessels assembled by Lambros Katsonis which harassed the Turkish squadrons in the Aegean sea, captured the island of Kastelorizo and engaged the Turkish fleet in naval battles until 1790.^[46][47]
• In 1803 there was a final fight between the Souliotes and the local Ottoman ruler, Ali Pasha, which ended the many years of conflicts between them.

Greek nationalism started to appear in the 18th century.

• Greek ethnic identity had fused with the Rum millet identity but after 1750 the enlightenment would inspire a new secular "Hellenic" identity of the Rum millet. There was a reconceptualisation of the Rum Millet from being Greek Orthodox religion adherents to all Greek speakers^[48] The French Revolution further intensified the growing battle between conservative and liberal Greek Orthodox elites and in the 1790–1800 decade a heated conflict broke out ^[49]
• Despite Greek-speaking and non-Greek speaking Orthodox Christians at the time identifying as Romioi, one of the enlightenment intellectuals Adamantios Korais pushed the word Graikoi as a replacement as it helped disassociate it from the Roman heritage and the Church (as well as being an older word than Hellenes).^[50]
• Revolutionary instigator Rigas Velestinlis and the Filiki Eteria behind the 1821 uprising intended to have a Balkan Orthodox uprising and a coalition between all the different ethnic communities.^[48] The focus of revolution ideology was the division between the Muslim Ottoman privileged class Askeri with the second class citizens Rayah which was predominately Greek Orthodox.^[51][52]
• Ottoman authorities believed Russia's imperial agenda and the general weakness of the state rather than conscientious political action is why the Greek revolution started.^[53]

In March 1821, the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire began. In Constantinople, on Easter Sunday, the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, Gregory V, was publicly hanged although he had condemned the revolution and preached obedience to the Sultan in his sermons.^[54]

Formation of Modern Greece and Turkey[]

Formation of Greece: 1822–1832[]

Building on the success of the first year of war, the Greek Constitution of 1822 would be the first of the new state, adopted at the first National Assembly at Epidaurus.

However, the Greek victories would be short-lived as civil war would weaken its ability to react; the Sultan called for aid from his Egyptian vassal Muhammad Ali, who dispatched his son Ibrahim Pasha to Greece with a fleet and 8,000 men, and later added 25,000 troops.^[55] Ibrahim's intervention proved decisive: much of the Peloponnese was reconquered in 1825; the gateway town of Messolonghi fell in 1826; and Athens was taken in 1827. The only territory still held by Greek nationalists was in Nafplion, Mani, Hydra, Spetses and Aegina.^[55][56][57] During this time, there were many massacres during the Greek War of Independence committed by both revolutionaries and the Ottoman Empire's forces.

The Treaty of London (1827) was declined by the Ottoman Empire, which led to the Battle of Navarino in 1827. The French Morea expedition between 1828 and 1833 would expel Egyptian troops from the Peloponnese and the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829) which occurred in retaliation due to Russian support at Navarino, led to the Treaty of Adrianople (1829) which enforced the Treaty of London. Karl Marx in an article in the New York Tribune (21 April 1853), wrote: "Who solved finally the Greek case? It was neither the rebellion of Ali Pasha, neither the battle in Navarino, neither the French Army in Peloponnese, neither the conferences and protocols of London; but it was Diebitsch, who invaded through the Balkans to Evros".^[58]

The establishment of a Greek state was recognized in the London Protocol of 1828 but it was not until the London Protocol (1830), which amended the decisions of the 1829 protocol, that Greece was established as an independent, sovereign state. The assassination of Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greece's first governor, would lead to the London Conference of 1832 and that formed the Kingdom of Greece with the Treaty of Constantinople (1832).

The first borders of the Greek state consisted of the Greek mainland south of a line from Arta to Volos plus Euboea and the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea. The rest of the Greek-speaking lands, including Crete, Cyprus and the rest of the Aegean islands, Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia and Thrace, remained under Ottoman rule. Over one million Greeks also lived in what is now Turkey, mainly in the Aegean region of Asia Minor, especially around Smyrna, in the Pontus region on the Black Sea coast, in the Gallipoli peninsula, in Cappadocia, in Istanbul, in Imbros and in Tenedos.

Kingdom of Greece and Ottoman Empire: 1832–1913[]

The relations between Greece and the Ottoman Empire during this time period were shaped by two concepts:

• Termed in history as the Eastern Question with regards to the "sick man of Europe", it encompassed myriad interrelated elements: Ottoman military defeats, Ottoman institutional insolvency, the ongoing Ottoman political and economic modernization programme, the rise of ethno-religious nationalism in its provinces, and Great Power rivalries.^[59]
• In Greek politics, the Megali Idea.^[60] It was an irredentist concept that expressed the goal of reviving the Byzantine Empire,^[61] by establishing a Greek state, which would include the large Greek populations that were still under Ottoman rule after the end of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1828) and all the regions that had large Greek populations (parts of the Southern Balkans, Asia Minor and Cyprus).^[62] The term appeared for the first time during the debates of Prime Minister Ioannis Kolettis with King Otto that preceded the promulgation of the 1844 constitution.^[63] It came to dominate foreign relations and played a significant role in domestic politics for much of the first century of Greek independence.

There were five wars that directly and indirectly linked all conflict

• Crimean War (1854 to 1856). Britain and France prevented Greece from attacking the Ottomans by occupying Piraeus. The unsuccessful Epirus Revolt of 1854 tried to take advantage of this period.
• Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878): Greece was prevented from taking military action during this war in 1877, in which the Greeks were keen to join in with the objective of territorial expansion, but Greece was unable to take any effective part in the war. Nevertheless, after the Congress of Berlin, in 1881 Greece was given most of Thessaly and part of Epirus. The 1878 Greek Macedonian rebellion and Epirus Revolt of 1878 occurred during this period.
• Greco-Turkish War (1897): A new revolt in Crete led to the first direct war between Greece and the Ottoman Empire. An unprepared Greek army was unable to dislodge the Ottoman troops from their fortifications along the northern border, and with the resulting Ottoman counter-attack, the war resulted in minor territorial losses for Greece.
• The two Balkan Wars (1912-1913): Four Balkan states, forming the Balkan League, defeated the Ottoman Empire in the First Balkan War (1912–1913). In the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria fought against all four original combatants of the first war. (It also faced an attack from Romania from the north.) The Ottoman Empire lost the bulk of its territory in Europe. The First Balkan War had Greece seize Crete, the islands, the rest of Thessaly and Epirus, and coastal Macedonia from the Ottomans. Crete was once again the flashpoint for tension between the two nations. The Treaty of London ended the First Balkan war, but no one was left satisfied. The Treaty of Bucharest, concluded the Second Balkan War, which left Greece with southern Epirus, the southern-half of Macedonia, Crete and the Aegean islands, except for the Dodecanese, which had been occupied by Italy in 1911. These gains nearly doubled Greece's area and population.

The Young Turks, who seized power in the Ottoman Empire in 1908, were Turkish nationalists whose objective was to create a strong, centrally governed state. The Christian minorities of the Empire, including Greeks, saw their position in the Empire deteriorate.

Formation of Turkey: 1914–1923[]

Greece entered the First World War on the side of the Allies in the summer of 1917 following The Great Division between the King and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos The Ottoman Empire entered the War with the attack on Russia's Black Sea coast on 29 October 1914. The attack prompted Russia and its allies, Britain and France, to declare war on the Ottoman Empire in November 1914. The Armistice of Mudros was signed on 31 October 1918, ending the Ottoman participation in World War I.

With the Allies victory in World War I, Greece was rewarded with territorial acquisitions, specifically Western Thrace (Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine) and Eastern Thrace and the Smyrna area (Treaty of Sèvres). Greek gains were largely undone by the subsequent Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922).^[64]

• Greece occupied Smyrna on 15 May 1919, while Mustafa Kemal Pasha (later Atatürk), who was to become the leader of the Turkish opposition to the Treaty of Sèvres, landed in Samsun on May 19, 1919, an action that is regarded as the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence. He united the protesting voices in Anatolia and set in motion a nationalist movement to repel the Allied armies that had occupied Turkey and establish new borders for a sovereign Turkish nation. Having created a separate government in Ankara, Kemal's government did not recognise the Treaty of Sèvres and fought to have it revoked.
• The Turkish army entered Smyrna/İzmir on 9 September 1922, effectively ending the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) in the field. The Greek army and administration had already left by sea. The war was put to an end by the Armistice of Mudanya.
• According to some historians, it was the Greek occupation of Smyrna that created the Turkish National movement. Arnold J. Toynbee argues: "The war between Turkey and Greece which burst out at this time was a defensive war for safeguarding of the Turkish homelands in Anatolia. It was a result of the Allied policy of imperialism operating in a foreign state, the military resources and powers of which were seriously under-estimated; it was provoked by the unwarranted invasion of a Greek army of occupation."^[65] According to others, the landing of the Greek troops in Smyrna was part of Eleftherios Venizelos's plan, inspired by the Megali Idea, to liberate the large Greek populations in the Asia Minor.^[66] Prior to the Great Fire of Smyrna, Smyrna had a bigger Greek population than the Greek capital, Athens. Athens, before the Population exchange, had a population of 473,000,^[67] while Smyrna, according to Ottoman sources, in 1910, had a Greek population exceeding 629,000.^[68]

The Treaty of Lausanne (1923) ended all conflict and replaced previous treaties to constitute modern Turkey.

• it also provided for a Population exchange between Greece and Turkey that had begun before the final signature of the treaty in July 1923. About one and a half million Greeks had to leave Turkey for Greece and about half a million Turks had to leave Greece for Turkey (note that the population exchange was on religious grounds, thus the exchange was officially that of Christians for Muslims). The exceptions to the population exchange were Istanbul (Constantinople) and the islands of Gökçeada (Imbros) and Bozcaada (Tenedos), where the Greek minority (including the Ecumenical Patriarch) was allowed to stay, and Western Thrace, whose Muslim minority was also allowed to stay.
• The Treaty awarded the islands of Imbros and Tenedos to Turkey, with special provisions for the Greeks living there. These rights were revoked or violated by the 26 June 1927 legislation of "Civil Law"^[69]

There were atrocities and ethnic cleansing by both sides during this period. The war with Greece and the revolutionary Turks saw both sides commit atrocities. The Greek genocide was the systematic killing of the Christian Ottoman Greek population of Anatolia which started before the World War I, continued during the war and its aftermath (1914–1922). It was perpetrated by the government of the Ottoman Empire led by the Three Pashas and by the Government of the Grand National Assembly led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk,^[70] against the indigenous Greek population of the Empire.

Modern relations[]

Initial relations between Greece and Turkey: 1923–1945[]

The post-war leaders of Turkey and Greece were determined to establish normal relations between the two states and a treaty was concluded. Following the population exchange, Greece no longer wished hostility but negotiations stalled because of the issue of valuations of the properties of the exchanged populations.^[71][72] Driven by Eleftherios Venizelos in co-operation with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as well as İsmet İnönü's government, a series of treaties were signed between Greece and Turkey in 1930 which, in effect, restored Greek-Turkish relations and established a de facto alliance between the two countries.^[73] As part of these treaties, Greece and Turkey agreed that the Treaty of Lausanne would be the final settlement of their respective borders, while they also pledged that they would not join opposing military or economic alliances and to stop immediately their naval arms race.^[73]

The Balkan Pact of 1934 was signed, in which Greece and Turkey joined Yugoslavia and Romania in a treaty of mutual assistance and settled outstanding issues (Bulgaria refused to join), embassies were constructed as a result. Both leaders, recognising the need for peace resulted in more friendly relations, with Venizelos even nominating Atatürk for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934.^[74] Montreux

Greece was a signatory to a 1936 agreement that gives Turkey control over the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits and regulates the transit of naval warships. The nations signed the 1938 Salonika Agreement which abandoned the demilitarised zones along the Turkish border with Greece, a result of the Treaty of Lausanne.^[75]

Turkey otherwise followed a course of relative international isolation during the period of Atatürk's Reforms in the 1920s and 1930s. Greece would also be distracted by internal matters when it brought back republican rule with the Second Hellenic Republic from 1924 to 1935 and then fell into military dictatorship between 1936 until 1941. Turkey remained neutral during the Second World War while Greece fell under Axis occupation from 1941 until 1945.

In 1941, due to Turkey's neutrality during the war, Britain lifted the blockade and allowed shipments of grain to come from the Turkey to relieve the great famine in Athens during the Axis occupation. Using the veseel SS Kurtuluş, Foodstuffs were collected by a nationwide campaign of Kızılay (Turkish Red Crescent) and the operation was mainly funded by the American Greek War Relief Association and the Hellenic Union of Constantinopolitans.^[76]

Despite the stabilisation of relations between the nations in this period, the Greek minority that remained in Turkey faced discriminatory targeting.

• The first occasion and in anticipation of WWII in 1941, there was the incident of the Twenty Classes which was the conscription of non-Muslims males who were sent in labour battalions.
• The second, and more destructively in 1942, Turkey imposed the Varlık Vergisi, a special tax, which heavily impacted the non-Muslim minorities of Turkey. Officially, the tax was devised to fill the state treasury that would have been needed had Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union invaded the country. However, the main reason for the tax was to nationalize the Turkish economy by reducing minority populations' influence and control over the country's trade, finance, and industries.^[77]

Post World War II relations: 1945–1982[]

The early Cold War aligned the international policies of the two countries with the Western Bloc. Following the power vacuum left by the Axis occupation at the end of the war, a Greek Civil War erupted that was one of the first conflicts of the Cold War. It represented the first example of Cold War postwar involvement on the part of the Allies in the internal affairs of a foreign country.^[78] Turkey was a focus for the Soviet Union due to foreign control of the straights; it would be a central reason for the outbreak of the Cold War ^[79] In 1950 both fought alongside each other at the Korean War; in 1952, both countries joined NATO; and in 1953 Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia formed a new Balkan Pact for mutual defence against the Soviet Union.

Despite this, the think-tank Geopolitical Futures claims three events contributed to the deterioration of bilateral relations after World War II^[80]

1. The Dodecanese archipelago. By virtue of Italy being defeated in the second world war, the long-standing issue since the Venizelos–Tittoni agreement between Greece and Italy^[81] was resolved to Greece's favour in 1946 to Turkey's chagrin as it changed the balance of power.^[82] Although Turkey renounced claims to the Dodecanese in the Treaty of Lausanne, future administrations wanted them for security reasons, and possibly due to the Cyprus issue.^[83]
2. The decolonization of Cyprus. Conflict broke out between the Greeks and Turks on the island instead of the needed state building process. In the 1950s, the pursuit of enosis became a part of Greece's national policy.^[84] Taksim became the slogan by some of the Turkish Cypriots in reaction to enosis. Tensions would increase between Greece and Turkey, and the Cyprus dispute weakened the Greek government of George Papandreou and triggered, in April 1967, a military coup. The junta staged a coup against the Cypriot President and Archbishop Makarios. Soon after, Turkey—using its guarantor status arising from the trilateral accords of the 1959–1960 Zürich and London Agreement—invaded Cyprus and remains to this day on the island.
3. The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Starting from 1958 and expanded in 1982 for the issue of territorial waters -- UNCLOS replaced the older 'freedom of the seas' concept, dating from the 17th century. According to this concept, national rights were limited to a specified belt of water extending from a nation's coast lines, usually 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) (three-mile limit). By 1967, only 30 nations still used the old three nautical mile convention.^[85] It was ratified by Greece in 1972 but Turkey has not ratified it, asking for a bilateral solution since 1974 which uses the mid-line of the Aegean instead^[86]

In 1955, the Adnan Menderes government is believed to have orchestrated the Istanbul pogrom, which targeted the city's substantial Greek ethnic minority.^[87] In September 1955 a bomb exploded close to the Turkish consulate in Greece's second-largest city, Thessaloniki, also damaging the Atatürk Museum, site of Atatürk's birthplace. The damage to the house was minimal, with some broken windows.^[88] In retaliation, in Istanbul thousands of shops, houses, churches and even graves belonging to members of the ethnic Greek minority were destroyed within a few hours, over a dozen people were killed and many more injured.^[89] The ongoing struggle between Turkey and Greece over control of Cyprus, and Cypriot intercommunal violence, formed part of the backdrop to the pogrom. Deflecting domestic attention to Cyprus was politically convenient for the Turkish Menderes government, which was suffering from an ailing economy. Although a minority, the Greek population played a prominent role in the city's business life, making it a convenient scapegoat during the economic crisis in the mid-1950s.^[90]

In 1964 Turkish prime minister İsmet İnönü renounced the Greco-Turkish Treaty of Friendship of 1930 and took actions against the Greek minority.^[91][92] An estimated 50,000 Greeks were expelled.^[93]A 1971 Turkish law nationalized religious high schools and closed the Halki seminary on Istanbul's Heybeli Island which had trained Greek Orthodox clergy since 1844 and remains to this day an issue in diplomatic relations.

Third Hellenic Republic and Republic of Turkey (1982 constitution): 1982–2021[]

In 1986 by the border at the Evros River, a Greek soldier was shot after an offer to trade cigarettes. His death sparked outrage. In 1987, a Turkish survey ship, the Simsik, was ordered to be sunk to the bottom of the Greek waters if it floated too close. It nearly did. In 1995 the uninhabited rock island Imia, where both countries claim jurisdiction, had them close to starting a war.

During the Cypriot S-300 crisis, between early 1997 and late 1998, tensions continued between Greece and Turkey, due to Greece's support of the Cypriot position. The confrontation was sparked by Cypriot plans to install two Russian-made S-300 air-defence missile sites on their territory, provoking Turkey into threatening an attack or even all-out war if the missiles were not returned to Russia. The crisis effectively ended in December 1998 with the decision of the Cypriot government to transfer the S-300s to Greece's Hellenic Air Force in exchange for alternative weapons from Greece.

In 1999, Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, was captured by the Turkish Intelligence Service agents in Nairobi, Kenya, while leaving the Greek Embassy. Öcalan was carrying both Greek and Cypriot passports.^[94] Fearing a hostile Turkish reaction, three Greek ministers resigned: Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos, in charge of the attempt to hide Öcalan at the Greek Ambassador's residence in Kenya and to find him asylum; Interior Minister Alekos Papadopoulos, in charge of the Greek Intelligence Service involved in the operation; and Public Order Minister Philippos Petsalnikos, in charge of the Greek security forces which failed to stop the smuggling of Öcalan into Greece in January 1999.^[95]

In December 2011, the Turkish newspaper Birgun reported on an interview with former Turkish prime minister Mesut Yilmaz saying that Turkey was behind a number of large forest fires in Greece in the 1990s. Yilmaz later denied the statements, saying he had been misquoted by the newspaper and that he had been actually referring to unsubstantiated reports of Greek involvement in Turkish forest fires.^[96][97] However, despite Yilmaz's denial, the allegations strained the relations between the two countries. Also, former head of Greek intelligence service said they had intelligence that Turkish agencies were involved in the arsons in the 1990s but had no proof. He said they had received information from their agents in Turkey that Turkish agents or others were involved in the forest fires on Greek islands.^[98]

During the 2010 trial for an alleged plot to stage a military coup dating back to 2003, named Sledgehammer, the conspirators were accused of planning attacks on mosques, triggering a conflict with Greece by shooting down one of Turkey's own warplanes and then accusing Greeks of this and planting bombs in Istanbul to pave the way for a military takeover.^{[99][100][101]}

In 2013, Greek authorities arrested four militants on two separate operations near the Greece-Turkey border, while the DHKP-C was about to organize an attack on Turkish soil.^[102] This would not be the first time with additional incidents in the followings years:

• In 2014, Greek authorities arrested a number of militants in several operations, including high-ranking members of the Turkish terrorist group.^[103]
• On November 28, 2017, Greek police raided apartments in Athens and detained nine Turks (one woman and eight men), members of the DHKP-C, plotting to assassinate Recep Tayyip Erdoğan using rockets, during his visit to Greece.^[104]
• In February 2018, a suspected member of the DHKP-C, against whom there was an Interpol red notice, was arrested while trying to enter into Greece. In June 2018, a Greek court ordered the extradition of this person to Turkey.^[105]
• In April 2021, the Turkey's Communications Director, Fahrettin Altun, said that Greece support, train and help terrorist organizations to attack against Turkey. Adding that the attacks include suicide bombings. Furthermore, he said that terrorists are staying in refugee camps in Greece. In the organizations he included the DHKP-C, PKK and FETÖ.^[106]

Official relations between Greece and Turkey had improved in 2015, mainly due to the Greek government's supportive attitude towards Turkey's efforts to join the EU, although various issues have never been fully resolved and remain constant sources of conflict. An attempt at rapprochement, dubbed the Davos process, was made in 1988. The retirement of Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou contributed to this improvement. His son, a foreign minister George Papandreou, made considerable progress in improving relations. He found a willing partner in Ismail Cem and later in the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Tensions continued to be high in 2015 over Turkish military activities that Greece regards as violations of Greek national sovereignty rights at sea and in the air.^{[107][108][109][110][111]} In March 2015 the Turkish forces had intended to carry out a military exercise in the Aegean disrupting international air traffic, and restricted traffic around two Greek national airports.^[112][113] Turkey subsequently withdrew the earlier Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) reserving an extensive area of air space over the Aegean from March 2 to December 31, 2015. The Greek government lodged complaints with NATO, the European Union, the United Nations, and the International Civil Aviation Authority over this flashpoint and NATO was thought to have played a role de-escalating.^[114]

In 2016, Greece named Turkey an “honorary country” together with Israel, Russia and the United States. Every year four countries are selected by Greece as “honorary” and their citizens enjoy additional benefits and discounts at Greece.^[115]

After the failed July 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, several Turkish military personnel sought political asylum in Greece while Turkey requested their extradition. The Greek armed forces and Coast Guard were on alert and increased the patrols and a contingent of the Greek Police was dispatched to some Greek islands to conduct checks there in order to prevent the arrival of participants in the failed coup to Greece and arrest anyone who might manage to enter the country.^{[116][117][118]} In addition to this:

• Two Turkish military attaches in Athens fled to Italy. The Greek Foreign Ministry cancelled the two attaches accreditation's on August 7, 2016, upon the request of the Turkish Foreign Ministry. At August 11, 2016, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that they left Greece to Italy on August 6 and added that Turkey will officially ask Italian authorities to extradite the two soldiers.^[119][120]
• On August 25, 2016, seven Turkish citizens were seeking asylum in Greece. A couple, both of whom are university professors, and their two children applied for asylum in Alexandroupoli after they illegally entered the country from the northeastern border. Also, three businessmen have illegally reached the Greek island of Rhodes, and they also applied for asylum.^[121][122]
• On August 30, 2016, a Turkish judge arrived to the Greek island of Chios on a migrant boat and sought asylum in the country. He told the Greek coast guard and police officers that he is being persecuted in Turkey for his political beliefs by the government of President Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish judge had been arrested for illegally entering the country and, also, he transferred to Athens for his asylum proceedings.^{[123][124][125][126]}
• On September 21, 2016, ten Turkish civilians, two men, two women and six children landed by boat illegally on the Greek island of Rhodes and sought asylum. They told the Greek authorities they were working in the private sector in Turkey and they were being persecuted by the Turkish government due to their political beliefs.^[127][128]
• On September 29, 2016, five Turkish nationals, a couple and their child and two other men, arrived in Alexandroupolis by crossing the Evros River by boat illegally and requested political asylum.^[129]

On August 15, 2016, the Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos accused Turkey of unjustifiably closing the historic Greek Orthodox Sumela Monastery, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, in Turkey's Black Sea region during the celebrations for the Assumption of Virgin Mary/Dormition of the Mother of God. The Turkish Foreign Ministry responded to the Greek President that his remarks distorted the decision to temporarily close the Sumela Monastery do not comply with facts and imply demagogy far from the responsibility of a statesman.^[130]

On September 29, 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan disputed Treaty of Lausanne. He said “We gave away the islands (in the Aegean) through the Treaty of Lausanne,”, “The islands, which if we care to shout (from the western Asia Minor coast) we'll be heard on the other side (the islands), we gave away with Lausanne. What will now happen with the continental shelf? What will happen with the airspace and land? We’re still fighting for all of these". This caused displeasure in Athens. A Greek Foreign Ministry source remarked that “everyone should respect the Treaty of Lausanne,” noting that it is “a reality in the civilized world which no one, including Ankara, can ignore.”, added that the Turkish leader's comments were likely geared for domestic consumption.^{[131][132][133]}

On October 16, 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “We cannot draw boundaries to our heart, nor do we allow it,” and that “Turkey cannot disregard its kinsmen in Western Thrace, Cyprus, Crimea and anywhere else.” Greece saw his speaking as an effort, informed by a neo-Ottoman narrative and romantic irredentism, to dispute past agreements that settled the borders between the two countries. Greek Foreign Ministry said, on October 17, that "Thrace is Greek, democratic and European. Any other thought is unthinkable and dangerous.”^[134]

On 15 February 2017, five Turkish commandos illegally entered Greece through the Evros river. However, once they entered the country, the group split. Two of them surrendered to the police and on 20 February 2017, requested political asylum. The Greek government announced that the Greek authorities will not allow the country to be dragged into the ongoing feud between the Turkish state and the followers of Gulen.^[135][136] But there was no sign of the other three. According to a lawyer, there were indications that the other three had been arrested by Greek authorities who were about to expel them to Turkey. Later, according to new evidence and new information these three “arrested” marines were delivered under fast and informal procedures from Greek to Turkish services.^[137][133]

On October 24, 2017, Turkish authorities obtained information that 995 Turks have applied for asylum in Greece after the coup attempt.^[138] More than 1,800 Turkish citizens requested asylum in Greece in 2017.^[139]

On March 27, 2017, the former editor in chief of the English version of the Turkish newspaper Zaman, Abdullah Bozkurt, posted a tweet on his account warning of increased clandestine operations of Turkish intelligence agents in Greece.^{[140][better source needed]}

On August 16, 2017, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaking before Turkey's National Assembly, said that a number of interconnected problems remain in the Aegean between the Turkey and Greece. “Among these problems is the question of sovereignty of certain islets and rocky formations, and the fact that there are no sea borders which are set by an international agreement between Turkey and Greece,” he said.^[141]

On August 22, 2017, the Erbakan Foundation (a religious foundation) at Sinop staged a protest, demanding the removal of a statue of the ancient Greek philosopher who was born at Sinop, Diogenes, from the city entrance. The foundation said it was protesting the fact that the Greek ideology being attached to the province.^[142]

In December 2017 Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the first Turkish president to visit Greece in 65 years.^[143] Also, the Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in a speech at the parliament criticized Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over his "failure" to raise the issue of "18 occupied islands" during his visit to Greece. His political party also declared the Turkish names of 156 islands, islets and reefs in the Aegean Sea and claimed them as Turkish territory. The Greek Defense minister, Panos Kammenos, responded "come and get it". Kılıçdaroğlu then said, that Turkey will come and take all of those islands back, while the CHP's deputy leader for foreign affairs, Öztürk Yılmaz, said that "Greece should not test our patience".^[144][145]

In March 2018, Turkey detained two Greek military officers who crossed into Turkey, by mistake, while following the trail of suspected illegal migrants. Turkish courts have ordered their detention on suspicion of illegal entry and attempted military espionage. In April 2018, Greece said that Turkey appeared to be seeking some political leverage by continuing to hold the soldiers without trial for more than a month.^[146][147] In April, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that the Turkish claim that the soldiers posed a threat is ridiculous.^[148] In addition, Turkish President Recep Tayipp Erdogan said he would consider releasing the soldiers if eight Turkish servicemen, who sought asylum in Greece following the failed 2016 coup attempt, were sent back to Turkey first. The Greek side has described this as "blackmail", with the Defence Ministry describing the soldiers as "hostages". Greek President said: "There was an unacceptable connection made between the Greek officers who were arbitrarily detained, and Turkish citizens who came to Greece and requested asylum. Because Greece implemented - I emphasize this - implemented international law, it was granted. These are two totally different cases and any confusion is unthinkable"^[149] In August 2018, the Turkish court ruled for the two soldiers' release, pending trial,^[150] adding that there were no reasons to kept them in pretrial detention.^[151] They are released and returned to Greece after being held for almost 6 months without any charges being pressed against them.^[152] Meanwhile, on 2 May 2018, a Turkish municipal worker was arrested after he illegally crossed to Greece near Kastanies. He stated that he accidentally crossed the border while carrying out construction work. On 5 May 2018, he returned to Turkey.^[153]

On April 10, 2018, Greek soldiers fired warning shots at a Turkish helicopter approaching the island of Ro. The helicopter was flying at a very low altitude late at night with its navigation lights switched off.^[154]

On April 16, 2018, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said that on April 15, Greek citizens planted a Greek flag on an uninhabited rocky islet at the Aegean, but the Turkish coast guard removed the flag. In addition, urged the Greek government to refrain from “provocative moves” in the "disputed areas" of the Aegean Sea. The Greek government responded that there was no evidence indicating "violation of Greek territory" and labeled the claims as "totally provocative and reprehensible".^[155][156]

In August 2018, the former lawmaker for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Leyla Birlik, requested asylum in Greece after illegally crossing the border near Alexandroupolis.^[157]

On September 9, 2018, two Turkish soldiers were arrested by Greek patrol units. According to the Turkey's General Staff, the soldiers were chasing irregular migrants when they crossed the border by mistake. The soldiers released and returned to Turkey the same day, after the Turkish side held talks with the Greek authorities.^[158] The Turkish defence Minister Hulusi Akar said that “positive and constructive attitude by the two countries gave out a good example of the neighbourly relations.”^[159]

In September 2018, the Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Ministry warned Turkish fishers not to enter the territorial waters of Greece. “In order to prevent unwanted incidents and accidents, and to abstain from activities that would harm our country's legal and political theses and ones which we would be unable to explain or defend,” after several complaints were handed to Turkey's Foreign Ministry saying Turkish fisher boats had entered Greece's territorial waters.^[160]

On March 14, 2019, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during an interview, said that whenever Greek military aircraft take off in the Aegean, Turkish jets will follow suit.^[161] The next day the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release saying that "Turkey's effort to equate the flights of Turkish military aircraft that violate Greece's national sovereignty with the identification and interception missions the Hellenic Air Force carries out in defense of national sovereignty, is completely unacceptable", adding that "Turkish military aircraft violate Greek national air space on an almost daily basis, including through low-altitude overflights of inhabited Greek islands. This is a practice that Greece systematically condemns and reports, both bilaterally as well as to the competent international bodies." The ministry also said that the legal status in the Aegean is "clear and fully enshrined" in International Law, "leaving no room for doubt".^[162][161] The Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson responded that Greece calling Turkey's flights over the Aegean Sea a “threat” is incompatible with alliance and good neighborly relations, adding that the Greek Foreign Ministry's statement was "odd" in both its timing and content.^[163]

On March 17, 2019, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a speech in İzmir along with Gray Wolves leader Devlet Bahceli, made a reference to the Asia Minor Catastrophe saying: "[...] Smyrna you that you throw the infidels in the sea and protect the helpless".^[164] This statement prompted the response of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that "Greece is not going to be swept away in the instrumentalisation of foreign policy to serve domestic political expediencies, or use history with terms that are offensive to neighbouring countries. Such unacceptable references undermine the trust we hope to build between our countries and are not in line with the European perspective that the Turkish leadership claims to support."^[165]

On March 22, 2019, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar stated that Turkey "control(s) the sea and the seabed. The seas. The Black Sea, the Aegean, the Eastern Mediterranean which also includes Cyprus" adding that "these areas lie within our sphere of interest... we have the responsibility of ensuring peace and calm".^[166] The Greek Defense Minister Evangelos Apostolakis issued a statement saying that although Greece is "struggling" to defuse tension "Akar surprised us with something new, with things that are not based on reason" adding that "it is the principle of Greece that we respect international law and the treaties" and "when these principles are questioned, we have to be concerned".^[167]

In early 2020, western security officials reported a pattern of cyber attacks against governments and other organizations in Greece and other European and Middle Eastern countries in late 2018 and early 2019, which they described as resembling a "state-backed cyber espionage operation conducted to advance Turkish interests". Turkey's officials declined to comment.^[168]

In 2020, Greek authorities released a number of videos apparently showing Turkish Coast Guard vessels harassing Greek ones and escorting migrants and refugees into Greece, in the northeast Aegean Sea.^{[169][170][better source needed]}

Greece accused Turkey's authorities that on 14 October 2020 weren't granting permission to the plane of the Greek Foreign Minister to fly through the Turkish airspace, back to Greece from Iraq. The plane was kept circling over Mosul for 20 minutes before Turkish authorities grant it permission. According to the Turkey's Foreign Ministry, the first plane that carried Greek Foreign Minister to Iraq broke down before going back to Greece, and Greece assigned another plane. The second plane hadn't provided the required flight plan, and after the plan was received from the Iraqi authorities the flight was carried out safely.^[171]

In January 2021, the two countries resumed talks on maritime disputes along with other issues in Istanbul, ending a five-year hiatus.^[172]

Current diplomatic issues[]

There are several issues that dominate current relations, which include territory disputes, minority rights, and Turkey's relationship with the EU.^[173][174]

Aegean Sea[]

Since the 1970s further issues arose between the two countries over sovereignty rights in the Aegean Sea. The Balkan Wars of 1913 had given Greece all the Aegean islands except Imbros and Tenedos, some of them only a few kilometres (barely more than three nautical miles) off the Turkish coast. Since the end of World War II, Turkish officials insisted that this led to questions regarding the delimitation of territorial waters, air space and other related zones of control. The conflict was motivated both by considerations of military tactical advantages and by questions of economic exploitation of the Aegean. The latter issue became particularly significant as after 1970 there were expectations of finding oil in the Aegean. This was highlighted during the crisis in 1987, when a Turkish ship was about to enter disputed waters to conduct an oil survey. The Greek Prime Minister of the time, Andreas Papandreou, ordered the ship to be sunk if found within disputed waters claimed by Greece. Consultations about this issue were held in Davos between the Greek and Turkish Prime Ministers.

Issues unresolved to this day concern the mutual delimitation of several zones of control:

• The width of the territorial waters. Both sides currently possess 6 nautical miles (11 km) off their shores in the Aegean Sea. Greece claims a right to unilateral expansion to 12 nautical miles, based on the International Law of the Sea. Turkey, which already has expanded its own territorial waters to 12 miles on its other coasts, denies the applicability of the 12-miles rule in the Aegean and has threatened Greece with war in the case it should try to apply it unilaterally.
• The width of the national airspace. Greece currently claims 10 miles, while Turkey only acknowledges 6 miles.
• The future delimitation of the continental shelf zone in the international parts of the Aegean, which would give the states exclusive rights to economic exploitation.^[175]
• The right of Greece to exercise flight control over Turkish military flight activities within the international parts of the Aegean, based on conflicting interpretations of the rules about Flight Information Regions (FIR) set by the ICAO.
• Since 1996, the sovereignty over some small uninhabited islets, most notably Imia/Kardak.

The conflict over military flight activities has led to a practice of continuous tactical military provocations. Turkish aircraft regularly fly in the zones over which Greece claims control (i.e., the outer four miles of the claimed Greek airspace and the international parts of Athens FIR), while Greek aircraft constantly intercept them. Aircraft from both countries frequently engage in mock dogfights. These operations often cause casualties and losses for both the Greek and Turkish Air Forces.

Incidents[]

• On 18 June 1992, a Greek Mirage F1CG crashed near the island of Agios Efstratios in the Northern Aegean, during a low-altitude dogfight with two Turkish F-16s. Greek pilot Nikolaos Sialmas was killed in the crash.^[176]
• Οn 8 February 1995, a Turkish F-16C crashed on the sea after being intercepted by a Greek Mirage F1CG. The Turkish pilot Mustafa Yildirim bailed out and was rescued by a Greek helicopter. After brief hospitalization in Rhodes, the pilot was handed over to the Turkish side.^[177]
• On 27 December 1995, a pair of Greek F-16Cs intercept a pair of Turkish F-4E. During the dogfight that followed, one of the Turkish aircraft went into a steep dive and crashed into the sea, killing its pilot Altug Karaburun. The co-pilot Ogur Kilar managed to bail out safely and was rescued by a Greek ΑΒ-205 helicopter. He was returned to Turkey after receiving first aid treatment in Lesbos.^[176]
• On 8 October 1996, a pair of Greek Mirage 2000s intercepted a pair of Turkish F-16s (a single-seater C and a two-seater D) over the Aegean island of Chios. The F-16s were escorting 4 Turkish F-4Es on a simulated SEAD mission. After a long dogfight, one of the Turkish F-16s was allegedly shot down with a Magic II missile fired by a Greek Mirage 2000 piloted by Thanos Grivas.^[176] The Greek authorities said that the jet went down due to mechanical failure, while the Turkish Defense Ministry said, on 2014, that the jet had been shot down by the Greek pilot.^{[178][179][180]} Some Greek media outlets reported that it was an accident and the Turkish plane had unintentionally been shot down.^[181][178] Turkish pilot Nail Erdoğan was killed whereas back seater pilot Osman Cicekli bailed out. He was rescued by a Greek helicopter and handed over to the Turkish side. Greece officially offered to assist Turkey in its efforts to locate and salvage the Turkish fighter jet.^[179] On 2016, Turkish prosecutors have demanded two aggravated life sentences for the Greek pilot who allegedly downed the Turkish F-16 jet. The indictment demanded that Greek Mirage 2000 pilot Thanos Grivas be sentenced to two aggravated life sentences on charges of “voluntary manslaughter” and “actions for weakening the independence of the state.” It also demanded another 12 years for “vandalizing the jet.”^[182] Greece rejected the demands of the Turkish prosecutors.^[183]
• On 23 May 2006, a Greek F-16 and a Turkish F-16 collided approximately 35 nautical miles south off the island of Rhodes, near the island of Karpathos during a Turkish reconnaissance flight involving two F-16Cs and a RF-4.^[184][185] Greek pilot Kostas Iliakis was killed, whereas the Turkish pilot Halil İbrahim Özdemir bailed out and was rescued by a cargo ship.
• On 16 February 2016, Turkey prevented the Greek PM's aircraft carrying the Greek PM and Greece's delegation from landing on the island of Rhodes for refueling during their trip to Iran, arguing that the island is a demilitarized zone. Turkey also refused to accept the flight plan submitted by the Greeks, mentioned that the plane will not be allowed to enter Turkish airspace. Greeks created a new flight plan, the plane flew over Egypt, Cyprus, Jordan and Saudi Arabia so as to reach Iran, according to the new plan.^[186]
• On 12 February 2018, near midnight, the 1700 ton SG-703 Umut of the Turkish Coast Guard rammed into the 460 ton Stan Patrol OPV-090 Gavdos of the Hellenic Coast Guard.^[187] No injuries were reported but Gavdos received considerable damage on her port stern side. The incident took place in Greek territorial waters east of Imia.
• On 12 April 2018, a Greek Air Force Mirage 2000-5 fighter jet crashed into the Aegean Sea, killing the pilot Capt. Giorgos Baltadoros, 33, as he returned from a mission to intercept Turkish aircraft that had violated Greek air space. The Hellenic Air Force lost contact with the Mirage jet at 12.15, while the aircraft was about 10 miles northeast of Skyros.^[188]
• On 17 April 2018, two Turkish fighter aircraft harassed the helicopter carrying Greek Prime Minister and the Greek Armed Forces Chief, as they were flying from the islet of Ro to Rhodes. The Turkish jets contacted the pilot of the Greek helicopter and asked for flight details. The Hellenic Air Force (HAF) responded by sending its own jets, which caused the Turkish fighters to leave.^[189]
• On 25 March 2019, the Greek Prime Minister accused Turkey of harassing his helicopter while he was traveling to Agathonisi for the Greek independence day celebration. Turkey rejected the accusations, saying that the fighter jets were carrying out a routine mission.^[190]
• On 18 April 2019, Anadolu Agency wrote that after some foreign media claimed that Turkish fighter jets harassed the helicopter which was carrying the Greek army general during its travel to Kastelorizo, the Turkish army dismissed the claims saying that there was no approach that posed a danger to the Greek helicopter, adding that the aircraft belonging to the Turkish Air Forces were on regular duty in the Aegean.^[191]
• In March 2020, Greece summoned Turkey's ambassador to lodge a complaint after the Greek coastguard said one of its vessels had been rammed deliberately by a Turkish coastguard boat.^[192]
• On 3 May 2020, Greek officials said that two Turkish fighters harassed the helicopter which was transferring the Greek Defense Minister and the Greek Chief of the National Defense General Staff, after the helicopter took off from the island of Oinousses. In response 2 Mirage 2000s were sent to intercept the Turkish F-16s which was caught on video and released by the Hellenic air force. The Greek Ministry of Defense provided photos of the incident showing the Turkish aircraft.^[193][194]

European Union[]

After 1996, Greek Foreign Minister, and later Prime Minister, George Papandreou charted a major change of direction in Greek–Turkish relations. He lifted Greece's objections to Turkey's EU aspirations and energetically supported Turkey's bid for EU candidate status.^[195]

A 2005 opinion poll showed that only 25% of the Greek public believed Turkey has a place in the European Union.^[196]

In September 2017, Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, mentioned that halting accession talks with Turkey would be a strategic mistake by the European Union, amid a war of words raging between Germany and Turkey.^[197] Also, former Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, has urged European Union leaders to keep the doors open to Turkey and to continue dialogue with the Turkish government, in an apparent reference to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s calls for the suspension of accession talks with Turkey.^[198]

Operation Irini[]

On 10 June 2020, a Greek frigate under the command of the European Union's Operation Irini attempted to inspect the Tanzanian-flagged cargo vessel Çirkin which was suspected of carrying arms to Libya, but was ordered to retreat after warnings from Turkish frigates accompanying the cargo vessel.^{[199][200][201][202]} Later, Turkish navy also stopped a French warship from the NATO Operation Sea Guardian from inspecting the vessel.^[203] On 21 September 2020, the EU sanctioned the Turkish maritime company Avrasya Shipping which operates the Çirkin freighter, because the vessel found to have violated the arms embargo in Libya in May and June 2020.^[204]

On 22 November 2020, the German frigate Hamburg intercepted a Turkish freighter near Libya and soldiers from the frigate boarded the Turkish ship in order to search it, but had to abandon checks and withdraw after Turkey protested. Turkish President Erdoğan accused Greece for “provocations” because the man in charge of the operation during that incident was a Greek official.^[205] European Union in an official statement said that the inspection followed the internationally agreed procedures, including NATO procedures and that the Irini operation is in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions 2292 (2016) and 2526 (2020) and that the UN Security Council Resolution 2292 (2016) calls upon all flag States to cooperate with inspections. These resolutions are binding for all UN Member States, including the Turkey.^[206]

RV MTA Oruç Reis[]

In mid-August 2020, tensions between the two countries have risen after Turkey sent a survey vessel RV MTA Oruç Reis to the region, escorted by warships, to map out sea territory for possible oil and gas drilling in an area where Turkey and Greece both claim jurisdiction.^[207] On 25 August 2020, it was reported that Greece and Turkey are planning rival naval exercises off Crete amid an escalating row over energy claims in the region.^[208] Greek media have reported that purchases consisting of French-made Rafale fighter jets and at least one French frigate will be made.^[209]

Sanctions[]

In September 2020, RV MTA Oruç Reis returned toward shore to ease tensions.^[210] However, the EU decided to impose sanctions on Turkey in December 2020, over its gas drilling activities and foreign policy in general.^[211]

Turkey-Libya agreement over sea boundaries[]

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (November 2020)

On November 27, 2019, Turkey and Libya signed a deal. The agreement, unveiled on December 5, maps out a sea boundary between the two countries, cutting across a part that is also claimed by Greece.^[212] Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias called the Turkey-Libyan accord a "blatant violation of international law". Greek authorities were taken by surprise by the accord, after Libyan officials assured them the deal would not be signed off.^[213] Greece on December 6 expelled the Libyan ambassador. Mitsotakis told the Greek parliament “They are oblivious to history and geography as they do not take Greek islands into account,” adding that Ankara's move is forcing them into “unprecedented diplomatic isolation”.^[214] Turkey condemned Greece's decision to expel the Libyan ambassador.^[215][216]

In December, Greece sent two letters to the United Nations explaining its objections and asking for the matter to be taken up by the U.N. Security Council,^[217] while Turkey notified the United Nations of its delimitation of the maritime jurisdiction areas with Libya. The United Nations remained neutral^{[218][better source needed]} and urged Greece and Turkey to maintain a dialogue.^[219] The head of the Tobruk parliament (Libya's eastern-based parliament) expressed his disagreement over the agreement during a visit to Greece.^[220][221] Greece followed by establishing a legal maritime accord with Egypt, while maintaining its legal right to implement a 12-mile maritime by law that is currently only 6.

On March 16, 2021, Greece and Turkey agreed to resume the talks to reach an agreement on maritime boundaries and held the talks in Athens.^[222]

Illegal immigration[]

Turkey is a transit point for illegal immigrants trying to reach Europe (as well as being a destination itself; see Immigration to Turkey for details).^[223] As a result of bilateral negotiations, a readmission agreement was signed between Turkey and Greece in November 2001 and went into effect in April 2002. For third-country nationals, this protocol gives the parties 14 days to inform each other of the number of persons to be returned after the date of illegal entry. For nationals of the two countries the authorities can make use of simplified procedures. But the strict application of the agreement is reported to have retrograded as of 2003. Incidents concerning illegal immigration are frequent on the border of the two countries. Turkey, which is a transit point for illegal immigrants trying to reach Europe, has been accused of not being able to secure its borders with Greece. Since 1996 40 illegal immigrants have been killed by mines, after entering Greek territory in Evros.^[224] In 2001, about 800 illegal immigrants were rescued by the Greek coast guard after a fire broke out on board the Turkish-flagged Brelner, believed to have set sail from the Turkish port of İzmir, probably en route to Italy.^[225] According to Greek sources the Turkish authorities are tolerant of smugglers trafficking illegal immigrants into Greece; a notable such incident is the one of a trafficking boat, filmed on September 14, 2009, by the Latvian helicopter crew of Frontex patrolling near Farmakonisi island, during which "it is clear that the Turkish coastguard, at best, does not prevent the "slavetrade" vessels to sail from its shores. At worst, it accompanies them into Greek territorial waters".^[226][227] The human trafficking into Greece through the Aegean Sea has been a documented, widespread phenomenon while "the failure, reported by Frontex, of Turkish officials to stop suspicious vessels as they leave, ensure that a steady stream of migrants reaches Lesbos and other islands in the Aegean".^[228]

On July, 2016, after the failed Turkish coup d'état attempt Greek authorities on a number of Aegean islands have called for emergency measures to curtail a growing flow of refugees from Turkey, the number of migrants and refugees willing to make the journey across the Aegean has increased noticeably after the failed coup. At Athens officials voiced worries because Turkish monitors overseeing the deal in Greece had been abruptly pulled out after the failed coup without being replaced.^[229][230] The Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) warned about the prospect of another flare-up in the refugee/migrant crisis due to the Turkish political instability.^[231]

In June 2018, Turkey suspended its bilateral migrant readmission deal with Greece in response to the decision by the Greeks to release the eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece after the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt.^[232] NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has called for “restraint and calm” after Turkey's decision.^[233]

In August 2019, about 650 people reached Lesbos from the Turkish coast in one day. It was the first mass arrival from Turkey since the 2016 EU-Turkey deal on migrant crisis. The Greek Foreign Minister summoned the Turkish ambassador to "express Greece's deep discontent". The Turkish ambassador said that Ankara was "committed" to the deal and that its policy had not changed after being asked how so many were managing to make it Greek shores. In the first two weeks of August 2019, 1,929 people arrived on Lesbos from Turkey, compared with 479 in the same period last year.^[234][235] Due to high influx of immigrants from Turkey into Greece in 2019, the Greek Minister for Civil Protection Michalis Chrysochoidis warned that a new migrant crisis, like the previous one, will repeat if the situation were to continue.^[236]

In March 2020, Turkish president Erdogan accused the Greek security forces of Nazi tactics against migrants at border and also of shooting dead four migrants, calling Greece to let migrants cross its territory to reach richer western European countries. Greece rejected the claims as “fake news”, adding that it has a duty to protect the EU border. Tens of thousands of migrants were trying to get into Greece since Turkey said in February 2019 it would no longer keep them on its territory.^[192]

Disaster diplomacy[]

Relations between Greece and neighbouring Turkey improved after successive earthquakes hit both countries in the summer of 1999. The so-called "earthquake diplomacy" generated an outpouring of sympathy and generous assistance provided by ordinary Greeks and Turks in both cases. These acts were encouraged from the top and took many foreigners by surprise, preparing the public for a breakthrough in bilateral relations, which had been marred by decades of hostility over anti-Greek pogroms, territorial disputes and the situation in the divided island of Cyprus.

Ten years later, Greece has become one of the key supporters of Turkey's struggle to enter the European Union. Yet, despite this support in Greece and Cyprus, which voted for Turkey in order to begin its entry negotiations with the European Union in October 2005,^{[citation needed]} many key issues remain unresolved. Furthermore, Turkey still denies access to Cypriot vessels to its territory, an obligation towards the EU with a 2006 deadline. The Turkish government counters that this restriction regarding Cypriot vessels was taken after the trade embargo decision against the portion of Cyprus illegally occupied by Turkey. The issue remains deadlocked, despite UN and EU attempts to mediate. Other unfulfilled obligations include Christian minority rights, acknowledgement of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Constantinople and the role of the Ecumenical Patriarch.

In 2002, Turkey and Greece made an unsuccessful attempt to jointly host the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship. The bid was one of the four candidacies that was recommended to the UEFA Executive Committee, the joint Austria/Switzerland bid winning the right to host the tournament.

A sign of improved relations was visible in the response to a mid-air collision by Greek and Turkish fighter jets in the southern Aegean in May 2006. While the Turkish pilot ejected safely, the Greek pilot lost his life. However, both countries agreed that the event should not affect their bilateral relations^[237] and made a strong effort to maintain them by agreeing to a set of confidence-building measures in the aftermath of the accident.

In August 2021, Turkish president thanked several countries and organisations, including Greece, for support during the 2021 Turkish wildfires.^[238] Later, during the 2021 Greece wildfires, Turkey sent two firefighting aircraft to assist.^[239]

Timeline[]

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Year	Date	Event
1923	30 January	Turkey and Greece sign the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations agreement
	24 July	Turkey and Greece sign the Treaty of Lausanne
	23 August	Turkey ratifies the Treaty of Lausanne
	25 August	Greece ratifies the Treaty of Lausanne
1926	17 February	The Turkish Government revokes article 14 of the Lausanne treaty, removing the "special administrative organisation" rights for the Greek majority islands of Gökçeada (Imbros) and Bozcaada (Tenedos).
1930	30 October	Greece and Turkey sign "Convention of Establishment, Commerce and Navigation, with Annexes and Protocol of Signature".
1933	14 September	Greece and Turkey sign Pact of Cordial Friendship.
1934	9 February	Greece and Turkey, as well as Romania and Yugoslavia sign the Balkan Pact, a mutual defense treaty.
1938	27 April	Greece and Turkey sign the "Additional Treaty to the Treaty of Friendship, Neutrality, Conciliation and Arbitration of October 30th, 1930, and to the Pact of Cordial Friendship of September 14th, 1933"
1941	6 October	SS Kurtuluş starts carrying first Turkish aid to Greece to alleviate the Great Famine during the Axis occupation of Greece.
1942	11 November	Turkey enacts Varlık Vergisi.
1947	10 February	Despite Turkish objections, the victorious powers of World War II transfer the Dodecanese islands to Greece, through the Treaty of Peace with Italy.
	15 September	Greece takes over sovereignty of the Dodecanese islands.
1950		Greece and Turkey both fight at the Korean War at the side of the UN forces.
1952	18 February	Greece and Turkey both join NATO.
1955	6–7 September	Istanbul pogrom against the Greek population of Istanbul.
1971		The Halki Seminary, the only school where the Greek minority in Turkey used to educate its clergymen, is closed by Turkish authorities.
1974	15 July	Greek Junta sponsored coup overthrows Makarios in Cyprus.
	20 July – 18 August	Turkish invasion of Cyprus
1987	27 March	1987 Aegean crisis brought both countries very close to war.
	30 March	End of 1987 Aegean crisis.
1994	7 March	Greek Government declares May 19 as a day of remembrance of the (1914–1923) Genocide of Pontic Greeks.[240]
1995	26 December	Imia (in Greek) / Kardak (in Turkish) crisis brought the two countries to the brink of war.
1996	31 January	End of Imia/Kardak crisis.
1997	5 January	Cyprus announces purchase of Russian-made surface-to-air missiles, starting Cyprus Missile Crisis.
1998	December	The missiles are instead positioned in Greece, ending the Cyprus Missile Crisis.
1999		Relations between Greek officials and Abdullah Öcalan (Kurdish rebel leader) and the role of Greek Embassy in Nairobi International Airport Kenya when he captured in an operation by MİT (National Intelligence Organization) caused crisis in relations between two countries for a period of time.
2001	21 September	Greek Government declares September 14 as a "day of remembrance of the Genocide of the Hellenes of Asia Minor by the Turkish state".[240]
2004		Turkey reconfirmed a "casus belli" if Greece expands its territorial waters to 12 nm as the recent international treaty on the Law of the Sea and the international law allow. Turkey expanded its territorial waters to 12 nm only in the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. Greece hasn't yet expanded its territorial waters in the Aegean, an act which according to some would exacerbate the Greco-Turkish problems in the Aegean (such as the continental shelf and airspace disputes).
2005	12 April	Greece and Turkey have agreed to establish direct communications between the headquarters of the Air Forces of the two countries in an effort to defuse tension over mutual allegations of air space violations over the Aegean.

Sports relations[]

• The Greece–Turkey football rivalry is one of Europe's major rivalries between two national teams.
• Çağla Büyükakçay-Maria Sakkari tennis duo of Turkey and Greece1 respectively won the ITF Circuit finals in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 14 November 2015 by beating İpek Soylu and Elise Mertens.

See also[]

• History of Greece
• History of Turkey
• History of Cyprus
• Hellenoturkism
• Foreign relations of Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and Northern Cyprus
• European Union–Turkey relations
• Greece–Turkey border
• Intermediate Region
• Greeks in Turkey
• Greeks in Middle East
• Turks in Greece
• Turks in Europe

Notes[]

References[]

Further reading[]

• Aydin, Mustafa and Kostas Ifantis (editors) (2004). Turkish-Greek Relations: Escaping from the Security Dilemma in the Aegean. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-50191-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
• Bahcheli, Tozun (1987). Greek-Turkish Relations Since 1955. Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-7235-6.
• Brewer, David (2003). The Greek War of Independence: The Struggle for Freedom from the Ottoman Oppression and the Birth of the Modern Greek Nation. Overlook Press. ISBN 978-1-84511-504-3.
• Keridis, Dimitris et al. (editors) (2001). Greek-Turkish Relations: In the Era of Globalization. Brassey's Inc. ISBN 1-57488-312-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
• Ker-Lindsay, James (2007). Crisis and Conciliation: A Year of Rapprochement between Greece and Turkey. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-504-3.
• Kinross, Patrick (2003). Atatürk: The Rebirth of a Nation. Phoenix Press. ISBN 1-84212-599-0.
• Smith, Michael L. (1999). Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor, 1919–1922. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08569-7.

External links[]

• Turkish PM on landmark Greek trip
• Greece-Turkey boundary study by Florida State University, College of Law
• Greece's Shifting Position on Turkish Accession to the EU Before and After Helsinki (1999)
• Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the relations with Greece
• Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the relations with Turkey