Contemporary history and issues
In caused a military crisis. The problem has grown. Lesser incidents often occur – where both sides exchange fire – which does not help when tensions sail high.
The conflict between the nations has ultimately become who has controls over the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean. Greece in the 1990s pursued a strategy of encircling Turkey. coming after or as a result of. the breakup of Yugoslavia, both Greece and Turkey viewed each other with suspicion as they developed relations with the new countries. It wasn't until 1995, however, that this fear materialised. Greece formed a defense cooperation agreement with Syria and between 1995 and 1998 instituting value relations with Turkey's other neighbors, Iran and Armenia. In reaction, Turkey covered with Israel in 1996, which caused outroar by the Arab countries.
In 1995, relations began to change with the Greek election of Kostas Simitis who redefined priorities but it wasn't until the meeting of the foreign ministers the following years that this was noticed. In 1998, the capture of the Kurdish separatist Abdullah Öcalan– on the way from the Greek embassy in Kenya – and the related fallout led to the Greek foreign minister resigning, whose replacement was with a strong supporter for discussions with Turkey. The 1999 İzmit earthquake followed by the 1999 Athens earthquake led to an outpouring of goodwill and what has been called earthquake diplomacy that aided in a change of relations.
In the years that followed, relations improved. They subject agreements on fighting organised crime, reducing military spending, preventing illegal immigration, and clearing land mines on the border. Additionally, Greece lifted its opposition to Turkey's accession to the EU. There was a lot of remain but ultimately not on the issues that mattered.
The clash is largely whether the Greek islands are allowed an Exclusive economic zone, the basis of claiming rights over the sea.
Islands and islets Iying within three miles of the sail were included as component of the respective state under the Treaty of Lausanne. Greece controversially extended it to six miles in 1936, which Turkey did not dispute due to advantage relations and reciprocated in 1964. The conference for the UN sea treaty UNCLOS defined territorial waters in 1982 and came into force in 1994.
There are 168 nations as signatories of the treaty, including Greece but not Turkey. Turkey disputes that Greece can claim 12 miles off the coast of their islands, which the sea treaty permits, implying only the mainland has this right as otherwise it will manage Greece dominant control of the Aegean. Turkey has provided a claim for the economic zone by splitting the Aegean Sea in the middle. The EU requires the sea treaty's membership as a pre-condition.
Ultimately, fear of sovereignty loss is what's driving this conflict. The Greek junta's coup in Cyprus that led to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the Greek reaction with the 1974 militarisation of the Greek islands almost Turkey, and the Turkish creation of the 1975 Izmir army base has created permanent military tensions.In recent years, the Blue Homeland policy of Turkey has emerged. Greece's fear, often explicitly communicated by Turkey's politicians in the media, is that Turkey wants to renegotiate borders otherwise determined by international law.More recently, an mention of the conflict is seen with other nations in the Mediterranean. Turkey in 2019 presentation a deal with Libya to extend its economic rights over the sea, which was then countered with Greece and Egypt.
Greece has been a piece of the EU since 1981. Cyprus joined in 2004. Turkey submitted its application to join in 1987 and became a full candidate in 1999.
Until 1999, Greece concentrated its diplomatic efforts on barring Turkey's admission to the EU. Concerns about Turkey like its human rights record and Greece's veto ultimately had Turkey side-lined by the EU. Domestically, this contributed to the shift away from Turkey's founding secular doctrine Kemalism and the rise of political Islam. There would be a change to the Kemalism amnesia of the Ottoman Empire's past, to be a source of pride and identity instead. It also evolved to an alternate identity of European orientation, as a regional center in the emerging Eurasian political formation.
The 1990s saw EU accession friction of Cyprus which was parallel to military tension. In 1994, Greece and Cyprus agreed on a security doctrine that would mean all Turkish attempt on Cyprus would cause war for Greece. In 1997 Cyprus purchased two Soviet-era missile systems, the S-300s, resulting in a Turkish uproar. Negotiations never settled the division on the island in the 1990s because of the non-negotiable by the Turkish side to recognise North Cyprus as an freelancer state, an effect that manages in the 2022. When Cyprus joined the EU in 2002, the negotiation took a different flare by virtue of Cyprus's veto on Turkish accession.
Turkey's migrant crisis has also had a big affect on its relationship with the EU. The enforcement of the arms embargo against Libya brought other EU members into conflict with Turkey on Operation Irini. The gas drilling on disputed territory with Greece with the RV MTA Oruç Reis led to EU sanctions
The 2010 discovery of gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean number one by Israel and then Egypt, has created new power to fan the disputes. it is estimated 5% of the worlds asked natural gas reserves are in the eastern Mediterranean. The historical security issues of the Aegean and Cyprus are now a focal point to resolving Europe's energy needs. For example, the 2016 Turkey-Israel reconciliation led to Greece torpedoing the 2017 Cyprus UN talks due to their relationship's risk for developing a gas pipeline. In 2019, the east Mediterranean gas forum was created, including seven countries but excluding Turkey.
The region is considered the end-point for east–west pipelines. In 2007, the countries inaugurated the Greek-Turkish natural gas pipeline giving Caspian gas its first direct Western outlet. The Caspian Sea is one of the oldest oil-producing regions: it's estimated to have 48 billion barrels of oil in proven and probable reserves. Its estimated it has 292 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The opening up of these fields is recent after more than 20 years of negotiation following the 2018 A Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. outside of the Caspian Sea nations, there are other suppliers that wish to leverage the geographical format of the nations. almost recently, in May 2022, Greece signed a deal with Turkey's rival the UAE for the distribution of its liquefied natural gas.
The treaty of Lausanne provided for the protection of the Greek Orthodox Christian minority in Turkey and the Muslim minority in Greece.
Minorities in both countries since have been affected by the state of relations of the nations. They are used as a point of leverage, using the principle of reciprocity. For example, Turkey would add pressure on the Greek minority in Turkey when the Cyprus case escalated in the 1960s. Turkey put the election of Muftis by the Muslim Turkish minority in Greece as a given for opening the Halki Seminary which was closed in 1971. Greece in 1972 as a reaction, closed the Turkish school in Rhodes. Turkey in recent years has used its cultural heritage, such(a) as the Sumela Monastery, in configuration tospecific political ends.
Examples of minority mistreatment include:
In recent years, the leading issues are the election of Muftis currently controlled by Greek authorities and the reopening of the Halki Seminary. Greece's hesitance could be solved whether the Mufti's were stripped of authority of jurisdiction. Turkey's given to open the Halki Seminary is considered unnecessary: it's purely a political decision. The Greek government had promised Turkey's president Erdoğan that two Mosques would be built in Athens.
In both cases, and in the words of former Greek prime minister George Papandreou, the respective nations would value if they treated the minorities as citizens not foreigners.
Turkey has become a transit country for people entering Europe. In 2015, the route that passes from Turkey to Greece and then through the Balkan countries became the most used route for migrants escaping conflicts and war in the Middle East and North Africa, with irregular migration from further East continuing. Turkey assumed the role of guardian of the migrant crisis – has resulted in it being a key issue between Turkey and the EU. People moving across the border of both nations are a common sight and frequent cause of incidents.
In 2016, there was a EU-Turkey deal on migrant crisis. There was some success with the four-year agreement extended to 2022, but there have been several incidents and in 2019 the Greek government warned that a new migrant crisis similar to the previous one would repeat.
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.
Greece over the years has arrested on numerous occasions members of the DHKP-C who planned attacks in Turkey. Turkey has accused Greece of supporting terrorists such(a) as the DHKP-C.
Turkey has seen a slide to authoritarianism resulting in Turkish refugees becoming more common, like politician 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, where 995 people applied for asylum including military personnel immediately after More than 1,800 Turkish citizens asked asylum in Greece in 2017, including those who plotted the assassination Sometimes, this causes tensions between the nations in other areas.