Visit to Greece by Turkish president off to tricky start
The first official visit by a Turkish president to Greece in six decades got off to a tense start yesterday.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been alarming his hosts with comments about the need to update the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which delineates the borders of modern Turkey, among other issues.
Mr Erdogan’s first meeting was with Prokopis Pavlopoulos, the Greek president, and the discussions between the two men, usually reserved for pleasantries and formalities before closed-door talks, were visibly awkward as they were broadcast on television.
The two engaged in a thinly veiled verbal spat over the Muslim minority in northeast Greece and the treaty. Mr Pavlopoulos, whose role is mainly ceremonial, reminded Mr Erdogan that he was not head of government and therefore did not have the same powers as Mr Erdogan.
Mr Erdogan’s two-day visit to Greece will include a trip to meet the Muslim minority. The status of the community, which Greece recognises only as a religious minority, was also determined by the Treaty of Lausanne. Turkey considers it to be a Turkish minority.
Before his arrival, Mr Erdogan told Greece’s Skai television that the 1923 treaty should be updated.
“In fact, all agreements in the world should be updated with the passage of time,” he said. “This update would be beneficial not only for Turkey but also for Greece.”
Mr Erdogan has made similar comments in the past about the peace treaty but his repetition on the eve of his Greek visit alarmed his hosts.
His comments “raise serious concerns and questions”, said a Greek government spokesman, Dimitris Tzanakopoulos. “The Greek government and the prime minister want his visit to be a reason to build bridges, not to raise walls.”
Respecting the treaty is “the exclusive and non-negotiable foundation on which the honest co-operation of the two countries can be built”, Mr Tzanakopoulos said. “Comments regarding its revision do not contribute to the climate we are trying to build.”
But Mr Erdogan reiterated his views during his meeting with Mr Pavlopoulos.
“This happened in Lausanne, that happened in Lausanne … I get that, but let’s now quickly do what is necessary,” he told the Greek president. “It’s not easy, 94 years have passed and many things have changed in 94 years.”
Mr Pavlopoulos told Mr Erdogan that the treaty “doesn’t need revision or updating. It is valid as is.” He said the treaty did not allow for territorial disputes and clearly set the status for the Muslim minority in Greece.
After this meeting, Mr Erdogan left for more substantial talks with the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras.
The refugee crisis will be high on the agenda of talks, as Greek islands have been the gateway into Europe for migrants crossing from the Turkish coast. Regional relations, energy and business ties, Turkey’s stalled bid to join the EU and Turkey’s territorial claims in the Greek Aegean will also be discussed.
One of the issues is the case of eight Turkish servicemen seeking asylum in Greece after last year’s failed coup. Ankara demanded their extradition, which was rejected by Greek courts because they could not be guaranteed a fair trial in Turkey.
That infuriated Mr Erdogan, who said in his Wednesday interview that his country’s judicial system was “the best in Europe”.
Mr Erdogan’s visit comes as his country finds itself increasingly isolated on the international stage.
Turkey’s ties with the EU and several European countries deteriorated significantly after Mr Erdogan’s postcoup crackdown. Other than Greece, Poland is the only other EU country to have invited Mr Erdogan to visit since the middle of last year.
Historical tensions between Greece and Turkey, which have brought the two to the brink of war three times since the 1970s, remain.
Tension between Ankara and Washington has also increased recently, particularly over the trial in New York of a Turkish banker over alleged transactions with Iran.
Mr Erdogan described the trial of Mehmet Hakan Atilla as an American conspiracy to blackmail and blemish his country.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televison interview that the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne should be updated