BY SAMI KOHEN
MILLIYET- When the prime minister of a host country starts talking about ‘strategic partnership,’ this means that bilateral relations are improving further. It’s quite important that Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis used the term ‘strategic partnership’ during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Athens last week. It may seem too early at this stage to talk about such a partnership, but if the parties display mutual desire and will, then this dream could become a reality. As I said before Erdogan’s trip, his visit was billed not as an ordinary show of friendship, but rather a tour to improve rapprochement and turn friendship into cooperation. I can say that this expectation was realized. We can summarize the results of his visit as follows:
The Cyprus issue has long been a ‘determining factor’ in Turkish-Greek relations, with developments on this issue influencing bilateral ties. A new approach was displayed last week. The Cyprus issue is going down its own path and was less mentioned, and the idea that this issue should remain outside Turkish-Greek relations dominated. This of course signals a shift in Athens’ strategy...
It’s already known that there’s been some improvement in negotiations on the continental shelf issue. Erdogan and Karamanlis agreed to accelerate exploratory negotiations on the Aegean. According to a decision at the European Union’s 1999 summit, if there’s no agreement by this December, then the issue will be brought to the International Court of Justice at The Hague. The two premiers are hoping for an agreement before then.
In his meetings and in a joint press conference with Erdogan, Karamanlis said that Greece would support Ankara’s getting a date for EU accession talks. Karamanlis even remarked that this would be a good example for the Greek Cypriot government. Thus, Athens gave us a binding promise.
Another history-making event was Erdogan’s visit to western Thrace, which went off without a hitch. The region hasn’t been visited by a Turkish premier for half a century. Erdogan’s constructive talks improved peace in the region and the confidence in Turkish-Greek relations.
Consequently, the expected solutions were realized during the visit. The important thing here is to keep the dialogue open and turn friendship towards cooperation and perhaps even to a strategic partnership.