Tensions mount between Greece, Turkey

– Turkey is once again facing off against historic foe-turned-ally Greece in one of the countries fiercest rows in years, although the war of words will unlikely spill over into a military confrontation.

With about two months before Turks vote on a referendum to enhance presidential powers, this renewed dispute is fuelling nationalistic sentiment in Turkey.

Forging a more pragmatic relationship with Athens has been the major foreign policy gain of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party since it came to power in 2002.

But tensions over disputed Greek islets in the Aegean Sea, airspace violations and discord on how to handle Byzantine heritage inside Turkey have cracked open an old schism between the two Nato allies.

The uninhabited islets have long been a source of tension.

A row over their sovereignty flared in January 1996, when the two countries sent marines to two neighbouring islands in a sign of an armed confrontation. But they withdrew their troops after diplomatic pressure from the US, a fellow Nato member

“I do not think any side has an interest in further escalation,” said Ioannis Grigoriadis, assistant professor at Ankara’s Bilkent University. He predicted the tensions would “once again go on the back burner”.