Correspondent in Istanbul
This is the first meeting of its kind in nearly five years.
The visit on Monday of a Greek delegation to Istanbul signals Recep Tayyip Erdogan's obvious desire to defuse the crisis that is poisoning his already complicated relations with the European Union.
Sitting around the same table in the precincts of the prestigious Dolmabahçe Palace, on the European side of the Bosporus, Turkish and Greek diplomats spoke of the dispute between them over the exploration of hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean.
The resumption of these “exploratory talks”, which had been interrupted in 2016, has a particularly symbolic dimension: it aims to restore a climate of confidence, at the end of an explosive year 2020, marked by mutual verbal provocations and military escalation with the sending of research vessels and Turkish army frigates to the disputed areas between the two countries.
European sanctions
The choice of the calendar is not trivial.
This rapprochement, initiated by the Turkish president, comes at a time when Greece is in the process of concluding the purchase of 18 Rafale fighter jets (*) from France, to strengthen its defense against its turbulent neighbor.
It also follows for a few weeks the first European sanctions against Turkish officials involved in exploration activities, aimed at punishing actions deemed
"illegal and aggressive"
by Ankara in the Mediterranean against Greece and Cyprus.
The Turkish charm offensive, which began with a first hand extended to France two weeks ago, also intervenes in a context of economic crisis reinforced by the Covid-19, reminding the danger for Ankara of alienating itself. 'Europe, which remains its number one trading partner.
For many observers, the election of Joe Biden to the White House also weighs in the balance of this strategic relaxation between Turkey and Europe: Erdogan, who had developed a good personal relationship with Donald Trump, expects in effect to a hardening of Washington and has great need to spare its other interlocutors.
Months of tension
As the meeting on Monday approached, courtesies poured out on both sides of the Mediterranean: Athens expressing its
"optimism and hope"
, Ankara hailing the
"positive atmosphere"
.
Brussels, which is following these new developments closely, also welcomed the resumption of the Turkish-Greek dialogue, seeing it as a "positive signal" after months of tension.
However, the talks should not lead to exceptional progress.
Until the last minute, the two countries struggled to agree on the agenda.
For Athens, the discussion should first and foremost focus on the delimitation of the continental shelf and its islands in the Aegean Sea.
But from Ankara's point of view, everything has to be put on the table, including the definition of exclusive economic zones and the airspace of the two countries.
Friday, the head of Turkish diplomacy, Mevlut Cavusoglu, had also discreetly set the tone by evoking the
"provocations"
of Athens when she refers to the doubling of the extent of its territorial waters, a subject that Ankara qualifies of
"casus belli"
.
(*) The Rafale is manufactured by the Dassault group, owner of the Figaro.