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Shkruar nga Kostas Iordanidis
As for Greece, which used its EU membership to counter pressure from Ankara, it is clear that it is now beginning to carefully weigh the implications of Turkey's increasing strategic importance from both the US and the EU...
At a time when the only “constant” in international politics is the “unpredictability” of US President Donald Trump’s actions, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Ankara on Thursday was a successful exercise in the rules of realpolitik.
The foreign policy of Merz and German Foreign Minister Johannes Vandevoll, who was the first to describe Turkey as a "strategic partner" in NATO, aims to preserve the unity of EU member states while at the same time strengthening security and defense cooperation with non-EU countries, such as the United Kingdom and Turkey.
This is precisely the position that was expressed with absolute clarity by Merz and President Erdogan at the joint press conference. The change in geopolitical dynamics in the region has apparently prompted Berlin to decide to deepen its military cooperation with Ankara.
As for the German Chancellor's call for the Copenhagen criteria that Turkey does not meet and that hinder its integration into the EU, President Erdogan simply objected to the "Ankara criteria." Besides, at this stage, Turkey has no reason to seek membership in the Union.
The disagreement over the Gaza crisis was a given from the start. Turkey is the only Muslim member of NATO. Moreover, it is the only country in Europe not charged with the murder of Jews. Since the time of the Ottoman Empire, it has been a refuge for persecuted Jews. Others pay the price of the Holocaust.
As for Greece, which used its EU membership to counter pressure from Ankara, it is clear that it is now beginning to carefully weigh the implications of Turkey's increasing strategic importance from both the US and the EU.
But this is a very old story. Around the end of November 1839, King Otto of Greece sent Foreign Minister Konstantinos Zografos to deliver his autographed letter of congratulations to the new Sultan Abdulmecid I and to conclude a treaty with the Sublime Porte. After presenting his credentials at Topkapi, he began negotiations with his Ottoman counterpart Reshid Pasha and in March 1840 signed an interstate agreement ad referendum, which he would submit to the government as a whole for approval or rejection.
In the Council of State, Andreas Zaimi denounced the "dishonorable treaty". Zograf's house was stoned by an enraged mob and he was declared anathema. In 1855, a new treaty was signed that did not differ in essence from that of Zograf and Resi Pasha. This has been the course of relations between Greece and Turkey ever since./ Adapted from "Pamphlet" by "Kathimerini"
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