Greece–Turkey relations#Cyprus and the EU

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{{for|relations before 1923|Greece–Ottoman Empire relations}}

{{Use British English|date=January 2023}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}

{{Infobox bilateral relations|Greece–Turkey|Greece|Turkey|map=Greece Turkey Locator.png|mission1=Embassy of Greece, Ankara|mission2= Embassy of Turkey, Athens}}

Greece and Turkey established diplomatic relations in the 1830s following Greece's formation after its declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire. Modern relations began when Turkey was proclaimed a republic in 1923 following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. Rivalry has characterised their relations for most of their history with periods of positive relations but no underlying resolution of the main issues.

Control of the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean seas remains as the main issue. Following the aftermath of World War II, the UNCLOS treaty, the decolonisation of Cyprus, and the addition of the Dodecanese to Greece's territory have strained the relationship. Several issues frequently affect their current relations, including territorial disputes over the sea and air, minority rights, and Turkey's relationship with the European Union (EU) and its member states—especially Cyprus. Control of energy pipelines is also an increasing focus in their relations.

Contextual overview on relations

The histories of the Byzantine Empire and Ottoman Empire factor into modern relations between Turkey and Greece.{{Cite journal |last=Isiskal |first=Hüseyin |date=2002 |title=An Analysis of the Turkish-Greek Relations from Greek 'Self' and Turkish 'Other' Perspective: Causes of Antagonism and Preconditions for Better Relationships |url=https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/tjir/v1n3/tjir_v1n3ish01.pdf |journal=Turkish Journal of International Relations |volume=1 |page=118}} Anthony Kaldellis views the Byzantine Empire as a pre-modern nation state.{{Cite journal |last=Stouraitis |first=Ioannis |date=2014-07-01 |title=Roman identity in Byzantium: a critical approach |journal=Byzantinische Zeitschrift |language=de |volume=107 |issue=1 |doi=10.1515/bz-2014-0009 |issn=1868-9027 |page=176|s2cid=174769546 |doi-access=free }} There is a debate that Turkey is not a successor state but the legal continuation of the Ottoman Empire as a republic.{{Cite journal |last=Dumberry |first=Patrick |date=2012 |title=Is Turkey the 'Continuing' State of the Ottoman Empire Under International Law? |journal=Netherlands International Law Review |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=235–262 |doi=10.1017/s0165070x12000162 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |issn=0165-070X |s2cid=143692430}}{{Cite journal |last=Öktem |first=Emre |date=2011-08-05 |title=Turkey: Successor or Continuing State of the Ottoman Empire? |journal=Leiden Journal of International Law |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=561–583 |doi=10.1017/s0922156511000252 |issn=0922-1565 |s2cid=145773201}}

Greece and Turkey have a rivalry with a history of events that have been used to justify their nationalism.{{Cite journal|last=Heraclides |first=Alexis |date=2012-03-01 |title='What will become of us without barbarians?' The enduring Greek–Turkish rivalry as an identity-based conflict |journal=Southeast European and Black Sea Studies |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=115–134 |doi=10.1080/14683857.2012.661944|s2cid=143599413 |issn=1468-3857}}{{Cite journal |last1=Sert |first1=Deniz Ş. |last2=Travlos |first2=Konstantinos |date=2018 |title=Making a Case over Greco-Turkish Rivalry: Major Power Linkages and Rivalry Strength |journal=Uluslararası İlişkiler / International Relations |volume=15 |issue=59 |pages=105–127 |doi=10.33458/uidergisi.525071 |jstor=26605022 |s2cid=188677490 |issn=1304-7310|doi-access=free }} These events include the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the Istanbul pogrom and Cypriot intercommunal violence. Greek-Turkish feuding was not a significant factor in international relations from 1930 to 1955, and during the Cold War, domestic and bipolar politics limited competitive behaviour against each other.{{Cite book|last=Bahcheli|first=Tozun|title=Greek-Turkish Relations Since 1955|date=2021|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-429-04072-6|pages=5–18|location=New York|doi=10.4324/9780429040726}}{{Cite book|first=R. Craig|last=Nation|title=War in the Balkans, 1991–2002: [comprehensive history of wars provoked by Yugoslav collapse: Balkan region in world politics, Slovenia and Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus|date=2003|publisher=Progressive Management]|isbn=978-1-5201-2165-9|page=295|oclc=1146235450}} By the mid-1990s and later decades, these restraints on their rivalry were removed, and both nations had become each other's biggest security risk.{{Cite book|author=Blank, Stephen|title=Mediterranean security into the coming millennium|date=1999|publisher=Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College|page=267|oclc=761402684}}{{Cite book|first=Thanos|last=Dokos|author-link=Thanos Dokos|title=Greek security in the 21st century|date=2007|publisher=Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)|page=21|isbn=978-960-8356-20-7|oclc=938611741}}

Diplomatic missions

The first official diplomatic contact between Greece and the Ottoman Empire occurred in 1830.{{Cite web |last=Kapodistrias |first=Ioannis |date=1830 |title=Recognition and Establishment of Diplomatic and Consular Relations |url=https://200years.mfa.gr/en/diplomatic-consular-relations-en/ottoman-empire/ |access-date=2022-04-28 |website=Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs}} Consular relations between the two countries were established in 1834.{{Cite web |title=The Greek Embassy in Istanbul – Onassis Cavafy Archive |url=https://cavafy.onassis.org/creator/the-greek-embassy-in-istanbul/ |access-date=2022-04-28 |language=en-US}} In 1853, a Greek embassy was opened in Istanbul; this was discontinued during periods of crisis and eventually transferred to the new capital Ankara in 1923 when the Republic of Turkey was formed.

Turkey's missions in Greece include its embassy in Athens and consulates general in Thessaloniki, Komotini and Rhodes.{{cite web |title=Turkey's embassy in Athens |url=http://atina.be.mfa.gov.tr/Mission |access-date=1 June 2022 |website=Turkish embassy in Athens}}{{cite web |title=Turkey's consulate in Athens |url=http://atinapire.bk.mfa.gov.tr/Mission |access-date=1 June 2022 |website=Turkish consulate general in Athens}}{{cite web |title=Turkey's consulate in Thessaloniki |url=http://selanik.bk.mfa.gov.tr/Mission |access-date=1 June 2022 |website=Turkey's consulate in Thessaloniki}}{{cite web |title=Turkey's consulate in Komotini |url=http://gumulcine.bk.mfa.gov.tr/Mission |access-date=1 June 2022 |website=Turkey's consulate in Komotini}}{{cite web |url=http://rodos.bk.mfa.gov.tr/Mission |website=Turkish consulate in Rhodes |access-date=1 June 2022 |title=Turkish consulate in Rhodes}} Greece's missions in Turkey include its embassy in Ankara, and consulates general in Istanbul, İzmir and Edirne.{{cite web |title=Turkey - Contact details for Greek Missions |url=https://www.mfa.gr/en/greece-bilateral-relations/turkey/turkey--contact-details-for-greek-missions.html |access-date=1 June 2022 |website=Foreign Ministry of Greece}}{{cite web |title=Greece's embassy in Ankara |url=http://www.mfa.gr/ankara |access-date=1 June 2022 |website=Foreign Ministry of Greece}}{{cite web |title=Greece's embassy in Istanbul |url=http://www.mfa.gr/istanbul |access-date=1 June 2022 |website=Foreign Ministry of Greece}}{{cite web |title=Greece's embassy in Izmir |url=http://www.mfa.gr/izmir |access-date=1 June 2022 |website=Foreign Ministry of Greece}}{{cite web |title=Greece's embassy in Edirne|website=Foreign Ministry of Greece |url=http://www.mfa.gr/edirne|access-date=1 June 2022}}

File:Consulate-General_of_Greece_in_Istanbul_2.jpg|Consulate general of Greece in Istanbul

File:Greece Consulate in Izmir.jpg|Consulate general of Greece in Izmir

History

= Background =

{{Main|Foreign relations of the Byzantine Empire#Byzantine and Persian-Turk relations|Greece–Ottoman Empire relations#The Rum Millet: 15th–19th centuries}}

{{See also|Names of the Greeks|Turcopole|Background of the Greek War of Independence|Greek Plan}}

The Greek presence in Asia Minor (Anatolia) dates to the Late Bronze Age (1450 BC) or earlier.{{cite journal |last=Kelder |first=Jorrit |year=2004–2005 |title=The Chariots of Ahhiyawa |url=https://www.academia.edu/219041 |journal=Dacia, Revue d'Archéologie et d'Histoire Ancienne |issue=48–49 |pages=151–160 |quote=The Madduwatta text represents the first textual evidence for Greek incursions on the Anatolian mainland ... Mycenaeans settled there already during LH IIB (around 1450 BC; Niemeier, 1998, 142).}} The Göktürks of the First Turkic Khaganate was the first Turkic state to politically use the name Türk.{{Cite book |last=West |first=Barbara A. |title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania |date=2010 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-1913-7 |page=829 |quote=The first people to use the ethnonym Turk to refer to themselves were the Turuk people of the Gokturk Khanate in the mid sixth-century}} The first contact with the Byzantine Empire is believed to have occurred in AD 563.{{Cite journal |last1=Qiang |first1=Li |last2=Kordosis |first2=Stefanos |date=2018 |title=The Geopolitics on the Silk Road: Resurveying the Relationship of the Western Türks with Byzantium through Their Diplomatic Communications |url=http://hw.oeaw.ac.at/?arp=0x003a16af |journal=Medieval Worlds |language=en |volume=8 |issue=2018 |pages=109–125 |doi=10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s109 |issn=2412-3196 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite book |last=Sinor |first=Dennis |url=https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/knowledge-bank/turk-empire |title=The First Türk Empire (553–682) |date=1996 |isbn=978-92-3-103211-0 |pages=327–332 |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=2022-01-23}} In the 10th century, the Seljuk Turks rose to power.{{cite book|title=The Turkic Languages|author=Lars Johanson |author2=Éva Ágnes Csató Johanson |year=2015|page=25|quote=The name 'Seljuk is a political rather than ethnic name. It derives from Selčiik, born Toqaq Temir Yally, a war-lord (sil-baši), from the Qiniq tribal grouping of the Oghuz. Seljuk, in the rough and tumble of internal Oghuz politics, fled to Jand, c. 985, after falling out with his overlord.}}

The first conflict between the Byzantine Empire and Seljuk Turks occurred at the Battle of Kapetron in 1048. More notable is the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 and the Turkish settlement of Anatolia that followed. Later, Turkish Anatolian beyliks were established in former Byzantine lands and in the territory of the fragmenting Seljuk Sultanate.{{Cite book |last=Imber |first=Colin |title=The Ottoman Empire, 1300–1650: The Structure of Power |date=2009 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |edition=2nd |place=New York |pages=6–7}} One of those beyliks was the Ottoman dynasty, which became the Ottoman Empire.{{Cite book |last=Kafadar |first=Cemal |title=Between Two Worlds: The Construction of the Ottoman State |date=1995 |page=122 |quote=That they hailed from the Kayı branch of the Oğuz confederacy seems to be a creative 'rediscovery' in the genealogical concoction of the fifteenth century. It is missing not only in Ahmedi but also, and more importantly, in the Yahşi Fakih-Aşıkpaşazade narrative, which gives its own version of an elaborate genealogical family tree going back to Noah. If there was a particularly significant claim to Kayı lineage, it is hard to imagine that Yahşi Fakih would not have heard of it.}}

{{Cite book |last=Lindner |first=Rudi Paul |title=Nomads and Ottomans in Medieval Anatolia |date=1983 |publisher=Indiana University Press |page=10 |quote=In fact, no matter how one were to try, the sources simply do not allow the recovery of a family tree linking the antecedents of Osman to the Kayı of the Oğuz tribe.}} In 1453, the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire.{{Cite book |last=Durant |first=Will |title=The story of civilisation| volume =VI: The Reformation |year=1300 |page=227 |citeseerx=10.1.1.457.975}}

Much of modern Greece and Turkey came under Ottoman rule in the 15th century.{{cite book |last=Finkel |first=Caroline |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9cTHyUQoTyUC&pg=PA17 |title=Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire |date=2007 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-00850-6 |page=17}} During the following centuries, there were sporadic but unsuccessful Greek uprisings against Ottoman rule.Woodhouse, A Story of Modern Greece, 'The Dark Age of Greece (1453–1800)', p. 113, Faber and Faber (1968). Greek nationalism started to appear in the 18th century.{{Cite journal |last=Roudometof |first=Victor |date=1998 |title=From Rum Millet to Greek Nation: Enlightenment, Secularization, and National Identity in Ottoman Balkan Society, 1453–1821 |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/content/crossref/journals/journal_of_modern_greek_studies/v016/16.1roudometof.pdf |journal=Journal of Modern Greek Studies |language=en |volume=16 |issue=1 |page=33 |doi=10.1353/mgs.1998.0024 |issn=1086-3265 |s2cid=144013073}} In March 1821. the Greek War of Independence began.{{Cite web |title=War of Greek Independence {{!}} History, Facts, & Combatants {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/War-of-Greek-Independence |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}

= Greece and the Ottoman Empire relations: 1822–1923 =

{{Main||Greece–Ottoman Empire relations}}

{{See also|Eastern Question|Megali Idea|Greco-Turkish War (1897)|Balkan Wars|}}

File:Great Greece Map Claimed by Venizelos at Paris Peace Conference 1919.jpg

Following the Greek War of Independence, Greece was formed as an independent state in 1830.{{Cite journal |date=1918 |title=Protocol of Conference Between Great Britain, France, and Russia, Relative to the Independence of Greece. |journal=The American Journal of International Law |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=67–68 |doi=10.2307/2213272 |jstor=2213272 |s2cid=246011519 |issn=0002-9300}} Relations between Greece and the Ottoman Empire were shaped by the Eastern Question and the Megali Idea.Theophilus C. Prousis. Review of Macfie, A. L., The Eastern Question, 1774–1923. Habsburg, H-Net Reviews. December, 1996. [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=712]{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AjDYlMB9amwC |title=The Mediterranean in the Age of Globalization: Migration, Welfare & Borders |last=Mateos |first=Natalia Ribas |publisher=Transaction Publishers |isbn=978-1-4128-3775-0 }} Conflicts between the two countries include the Epirus Revolt of 1854 during the Crimean War, the 1878 Greek Macedonian rebellion and the Epirus Revolt of 1878 during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). Wars between the Ottomans and the Greeks include the Greco-Turkish War (1897) and the two Balkan Wars. By the end of the Second Balkan War due to the Treaty of Bucharest (1913) Greece grew by two-thirds; it went from {{convert|64,790|to|108,610|km2|abbr=on}} and its population from 2,660,000 to 4,363,000.Anderson and Hershey, pp. 439–440. With the Allies' victory in World War I, Greece was awarded sovereignty over Western Thrace in the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine; and Eastern Thrace and the Smyrna area in the Treaty of Sèvres. Greek gains were largely undone by the subsequent Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922).Petsalis-Diomidis, Nicholas. Greece at the Paris Peace Conference/1919. Inst. for Balkan Studies, 1978.

File:Proportions des populations en Asie Mineure statistique officielle d1914.png

File:Asia Minor massacres.jpg. The photo was taken from the launch boat of a US warship.|right]]

Greece occupied Smyrna on 15 May 1919, while Mustafa Kemal Pasha (later Atatürk), who was to become the leader of the Turkish opposition to the Treaty of Sèvres, landed in Samsun on 19 May 1919, an action that is regarded as the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence. Mustafa Kemal united the protesting voices in Anatolia and began a nationalist movement to repel the Allied armies that had occupied the Ottoman Empire and establish new borders for a sovereign Turkish nation. The Turkish nation would be Western in civilisation and would elevate Turkish culture that had faded under Arab culture; this included disassociating Islam from Arab culture and restricted it to the private sphere.{{Cite journal |last=Grigoriadis |first=Ioannis N. |date=2011 |title=Redefining the Nation: Shifting Boundaries of the 'Other' in Greece and Turkey |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |volume=47 |issue=1 |page=175 |doi=10.1080/00263206.2011.536632 |jstor=27920347 |hdl=11693/11995 |s2cid=44340675 |issn=0026-3206|hdl-access=free }}

The Turkish Parliament in Ankara formally abolished the Sultanate and the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) ended all conflict and replaced previous treaties to constitute modern Turkey.{{Cite web |title=The Grand National Assembly of Turkey |url=https://global.tbmm.gov.tr/index.php/EN/yd/icerik/12 |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=global.tbmm.gov.tr}}{{cite encyclopedia |entry=Treaty of Peace with Turkey signed at Lausanne |encyclopedia=World War I Document Archive |date=24 July 1923 |url=http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Treaty_of_Lausanne |access-date=2 June 2022 |title=Treaty of Lausanne – World War I Document Archive }}{{rs|date=September 2023}} The treaty provided for a population exchange between Greece and Turkey.{{Cite web |last=PontosWorld |title=The Exchange of Populations Between Greece and Turkey |url=https://pontosworld.com/index.php/pontus/history/articles/101-the-exchange-of-populations-between-greece-and-turkey |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=PontosWorld |language=en-gb}}

The treaty also contained a declaration of amnesty for the perpetrators of crimes that were committed between 1914 and 1922, a period which was marked by many atrocities.The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 18, No. 2, Supplement: Official Documents (Apr. 1924), pp. 92–95.{{Cite journal |last=Scharf |first=Michael |date=1996 |title=The Letter of the Law: The Scope of the International Legal Obligation to Prosecute Human Rights Crimes |url=https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=lcp |journal=Law and Contemporary Problems |volume=59 |issue=4 |pages=41–61 |doi=10.2307/1192189 |issn=0023-9186 |jstor=1192189 |quote=Initially, the Allied Powers sought the prosecution of those responsible for the massacres. The Treaty of Sevres, which was signed on 10 August 1920, would have required the Turkish Government to hand over those responsible to the Allied Powers for trial. Treaty of Peace between the Allied Powers and Turkey [Treaty of Sevres], art. 230, at 235, Aug. 10, 1920, reprinted in 15 AM. J. INT'L L. 179 (Supp 1921). "The Treaty of Sevres was, however, not ratified and did not come into force. It was replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne, which not only did not contain provisions respecting the punishment of war crimes, but was accompanied by a 'Declaration of Amnesty' of all offenses committed between 1914 and 1922." Treaty of Peace between the Allied Powers and Turkey [Treaty of Lausanne], July 24, 1923, League of Nations Treaty Series 11, reprinted in 18 AM. J. INT'L L. 1 (Supp. 1924). 99.|url-access=subscription }} The Greek genocide was the systematic killing of the Christian-Ottoman Greek population of Anatolia which started before World War I, and continued during the war and its aftermath (1914–1922).{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Adam |title=Genocide: a comprehensive introduction |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-84696-4 |edition=2nd |location=London |page=163 |oclc=672333335}}{{Cite journal |last=Meichanetsidis |first=Vasileios Th. |date=2015 |title=The Genocide of the Greeks of the Ottoman Empire, 1913–1923: A Comprehensive Overview |journal=Genocide Studies International |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=104–173 |doi=10.3138/gsi.9.1.06 |jstor=26986016 |s2cid=154870709 |issn=2291-1847}}

= Initial relations between Greece and Turkey: 1923–1945 =

{{See also|Atatürk's Reforms|Second Hellenic Republic|4th of August Regime|Axis occupation of Greece}}File:Territorial Expansion of Greece from 1832–1947.gif

Following the population exchange, Greece wanted to end hostilities but negotiations stalled because of the issue of valuations of the properties of the exchanged populations.{{Cite journal|last=Miller|first=William|date=1929|title=Greece since the Return of Venizelos|journal=Foreign Affairs|volume=7|issue=3|page=470|doi=10.2307/20028707|jstor=20028707|issn=0015-7120}}{{Cite journal|last=Polyzoides|first=Adamantios T.|date=1928|title=The Return of Venizelos to Power In Greece|journal=Current History|volume=29|issue=3|page=453|jstor=45333045|issn=2641-080X}} Driven by Eleftherios Venizelos in co-operation with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as well as İsmet İnönü's government, a series of treaties between Greece and Turkey were signed in 1930, in effect restoring Greek-Turkish relations and establishing a de facto alliance between the two countries.{{cite book |title= 100+2 Χρόνια Ελλάδα |trans-title= 100+2 Years of Greece |volume= A |publisher= I Maniateas Publishing Enterprises |year= 2002 |pages= 208–209}} As part of these treaties, Greece and Turkey agreed the Treaty of Lausanne would be the final settlement of their respective borders, pledged they would not join opposing military or economic alliances, and to immediately stop their naval arms race.

The Balkan Pact of 1934 was signed, in which Greece and Turkey joined Yugoslavia and Romania in a treaty of mutual assistance, and settled outstanding issues. Venizelos nominated Atatürk for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934.{{cite book|first=Andrew|last=Mangoe|title=Atatürk: The Biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey|publisher=John Murray|year=1999|page=487}}

Greece was a signatory to a 1936 agreement that gives Turkey control over the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits, and regulates the transit of naval warships. The nations signed the 1938 Salonika Agreement which abandoned the demilitarised zones along the Turkish border with Greece that were a result of the Treaty of Lausanne.{{cite book |last=Barlas |first=Dilek |title=Etatism and Diplomacy in Turkey: Economic and Foreign Policy Strategies in an Unknown World, 1929–39 |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |isbn=90-04-10855-6 |year=1998 | page=188 }}

In 1941, due to Turkey's neutrality during the Second World War, Britain lifted the blockade and allowed shipments of grain from Turkey to relieve the great famine in Athens during the Axis occupation. Using the vessel {{SS|Kurtuluş}}, foodstuffs were collected by a nationwide campaign of Kızılay, the Turkish Red Crescent, and the operation was funded by the American Greek War Relief Association and the Hellenic Union of Constantinopolitans.{{cite book|last=Featherstone |first=Kevin |title=The last Ottomans: the Muslim minority of Greece, 1940–1949 |year=2010 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire |isbn=978-0-230-23251-8|page=63 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_BYsAQAAMAAJ&q=%22However%2C+the+main+operation+of+humanitarian+aid+was+mainly+funded+by+the+GWRA+and+the+%27Hellenic+Union+of+Constantinopolitans%22|edition=1. publ. |display-authors=etal}}

During this period, the Greek minority that remained in Turkey faced discriminatory targeting. In 1941 in anticipation of the Second World War, in the Twenty Classes, adult male Armenians, Greeks and Jews were conscripted into labour battalions.{{Cite web |title='21st Century' N 1, 2008 |url=http://www.noravank.am/eng/jurnals/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=4534 |access-date=2022-06-02 |website=www.noravank.am |page=65}} In 1942, Turkey imposed the Varlık Vergisi, a special tax that heavily impacted the non-Muslim minorities of Turkey. Officially, the tax was devised to fill the state treasury that would have been needed if Germany or the Soviet Union invaded the country. The tax's main purpose, however, was to nationalise the Turkish economy by reducing minority populations' influence and control over the country's trade, finance, and industries.{{cite book|last=Aktar|first=Ayhan|title=Varlık vergisi ve 'Türkleştirme' politikaları|year=2006|publisher=İletişim|location=İstanbul|isbn=975-470-779-0|edition=8. bs.|language=tr|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/varlkvergisivetu0000akta}}

= Post World War II relations: 1945–1982 =

{{Main|Cyprus conflict|Greeks in Turkey#Republic_of_Turkey}}

{{Further|Istanbul pogrom|Cypriot intercommunal violence|Expulsion of Istanbul Greeks}}

File:Nomos Dodekanisou.png

Following the power vacuum left by the ending of the Axis occupation after the war, the Greek Civil War erupted as one of the first conflicts of the Cold War. It represented the first example of Cold War involvement on the part of the Allies in the internal affairs of a non-Allied country.{{cite book|last= Chomsky|first= Noam|title= World Orders, Old And New|publisher= Pluto Press London|year= 1994}} Turkey was a focus for the Soviet Union due to foreign control of the straits; it was a central reason for the outbreak of the Cold War {{Cite journal|last=Roberts|first=Geoffrey|date=2011|title=Moscow's Cold War on the Periphery: Soviet Policy in Greece, Iran, and Turkey, 1943–8|journal=Journal of Contemporary History|volume=46|issue=1|pages=78–81|doi=10.1177/0022009410383292|hdl=20.500.12323/1406|s2cid=161542583|issn=0022-0094|hdl-access=free}} In 1950, both Greece and Turkey fought in the Korean War, ending Turkey's diplomatic isolation and brought it an invitation to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO);{{Cite journal |last=Lippe |first=John M. Vander |date=2000 |title=Forgotten Brigade of the Forgotten War: Turkey's Participation in the Korean War |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |volume=36 |issue=1 |page=98 |doi=10.1080/00263200008701299 |jstor=4284053 |s2cid=143895626 |issn=0026-3206}} in 1952, both countries joined NATO;{{Cite web |last=NATO |title=Turkey and NATO –. 1952 |url=https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/declassified_191048.htm |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=NATO |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=NATO |title=Greece and NATO – 1952 |url=http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/declassified_181434.htm |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=NATO |language=en}} and in 1953, Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia formed a new Balkan Pact for mutual defence against the Soviet Union.

File:Cyprus 1973 ethnic neutral.svg

According to think tank Geopolitical Futures, three events contributed to the deterioration of post-1945 bilateral relations:{{Cite web|last=Colibasanu|first=Antonia|date=2021-07-27|title=Turkey's Strategy in the Eastern Med|url=https://geopoliticalfutures.com/turkeys-strategy-in-the-eastern-med/|access-date=2022-02-02|website=Geopolitical Futures|language=en-US}}

  1. After the defeat of Italy in the Second World War, the long-standing issue of sovereignty over the Dodecanese archipelago, which had been a sore point since the Venizelos–Tittoni agreement between Greece and Italy, was resolved to Greece's favour in 1946, upsetting Turkey because it changed the balance of power.{{Cite journal |last=Roucek |first=Joseph S. |date=1944 |title=The Legal Aspects of Sovereignty over the Dodecanese |journal=American Journal of International Law |volume=38 |issue=4 |page=704 |doi=10.1017/s000293000015746x |issn=0002-9300 |s2cid=235843284}}{{Cite web|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/24/archives/dodecanese-issue-revived-by-turks-greeks-scoff-at-new-claim-to-some.html|title = Dodecanese Issue Revived by Turks; Greeks Scoff at New Claim to Some Aegean Islands|date = May 24, 1964| work = The New York Times}} Turkey renounced claims to the Dodecanese in the Treaty of Lausanne but future administrations wanted them for security reasons, and possibly due to the Cyprus issue.
  2. After the decolonisation of Cyprus, conflict between Greeks and Turks broke out on the island. In the 1950s, the pursuit of enosis became a part of Greece's national policy.{{cite book |last1=Huth |first1=Paul |title=Standing Your Ground: Territorial Disputes and International Conflict |date=2009 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-02204-5|page=206 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NIAc-R5fgQoC|quote=From early 1950s onward Greece has favored union with Cyprus through a policy of enosis}} Taksim became the slogan by some Turkish Cypriots in reaction to enosis.{{cite book|last1=Kyris|first1=George|title=The Europeanisation of Contested Statehood: The EU in Northern Cyprus|date=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-03274-8|pages=30–31|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zdi1CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA30|quote=The rise of Turkish nationalism among the Turkish Cypriots can be largely seen as a response to the Greek Cypriot national "awakening" and campaign for union with Greece.}}{{cite journal|last1=Kızılyürek|first1=Niyazi|title=The politics of identity in the Turkish Cypriot community: a response to the politics of denial?|journal=Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient méditerranéen|date=2003|volume=37|issue=1|pages=197–204|url=http://www.persee.fr/doc/mom_1274-6525_2003_act_37_1_969|quote=The Turkish Cypriot nationalism developed mainly in reaction to the Greek Cypriot national desire for union with Greece.}}{{cite book|last1=Carter|first1=Judy|last2=Irani|first2=Irani|last3=Volkan|first3=Vamık|title=Regional and Ethnic Conflicts: Perspectives from the Front Lines|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-34466-7|page=60|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RZYTCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA60}} Tensions between Greece and Turkey increased, and the ambivalence towards Cyprus by the Greek government of George Papandreou led to the Greek military coup.{{Cite journal |last=Evriviades |first=Marios L. |date=1976 |title=The Problem of Cyprus |journal=Current History |volume=70 |issue=412 |pages=19–20 |jstor=45314135 |issn=0011-3530}} In 1974, the Greek government staged a coup against the Cypriot president and Archbishop Makarios by invading Cyprus and establishing a Greece-controlled Cyprus government.{{cite book |author=Hoffmeister, Frank |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LZXbg3ZwvGoC |title=Legal aspects of the Cyprus problem: Annan Plan and EU accession |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |year=2006 |isbn=978-90-04-15223-6 |pages=34–35}}[http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=S/PV.1780(OR)&Lang=S UN] The Official Record of United Nations Security Council 1780th Meeting (19.07.1974){{cite book |last1=Coakley |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3VXcAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA131 |title=Pathways from Ethnic Conflict: Institutional Redesign in Divided Societies |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-98847-2 |page=131}}{{cite book |last1=Madianou |first1=Mirca |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V5lDaSGNZrkC&pg=PA39 |title=Mediating the Nation |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-61105-6 |page=39}}{{cite book |last1=Förster |first1=Larissa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s4hNtC_7VyIC&pg=PA161 |title=Influence Without Boots on the Ground: Seaborne Crisis Response |date=2013 |publisher=Government Printing Office |isbn=978-1-935352-03-7 |page=161}} Soon after, Turkey—using its guarantor status arising from the trilateral accords of the 1959–1960 Zürich and London Agreementinvaded Cyprus.{{cite book |author=Vincent Morelli |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dyWwReoc81oC&pg=PA1 |title=Cyprus: Reunification Proving Elusive |date=April 2011 |publisher=Diane Publishing |isbn=978-1-4379-8040-0 |page=1 |quote=The Greek Cypriots and much of the international community refer to it as an "invasion.}} The Turkish Federated State of Cyprus was declared one year later.{{Cite web |title=Cyprus History: 1975 Turkish Federated State of Cyprus (TFSC) |url=http://www.cypnet.co.uk/ncyprus/history/republic/1975.html |website=www.cypnet.co.uk}}
  3. Starting in 1958 and expanded in 1982 for the issue of territorial waters, the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) replaced the older concept of freedom of the seas, which dated from the 17th century. According to this concept, national rights were limited to a specified belt of water extending from a nation's coastlines, usually {{convert|3|nmi|km mi}}—known as the three-mile limit. By 1967, only 30 nations still used the old three-nautical-mile convention.{{Cite journal|date=2011-06-03|title=The Three-Mile Limit: Its Juridical Status|url=https://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr/vol6/iss2/4|journal=Valparaiso University Law Review|volume=6|issue=2|pages=170–184}} It was ratified by Greece in 1972 but Turkey has not ratified it, asking for a bilateral solution since 1974 which uses the mid-line of the Aegean instead{{Cite book|first=S. Victor|last=Papacosma|title=Legacy of strife: Greece, Turkey, and the Aegean|oclc=84602250|page=303}}

File:Aegean 6 nm.svg (nmi): Current territorial waters recognised by Greece and Turkey, and airspace as recognised by Turkey]]

In 1955, the Adnan Menderes government is believed to have orchestrated the Istanbul pogrom, which targeted the city's substantial Greek ethnic minority and other minorities.{{Cite journal |last=Törne |first=Annika |date=2015 |title=Recent Studies on the September Pogrom in Istanbul 1955 |journal=Iran & the Caucasus |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=403–417 |doi=10.1163/1573384X-20150409 |jstor=43899216 |issn=1609-8498}}{{Cite journal |last=de Zayas |first=Alfred |date=2007-08-01 |title=The Istanbul Pogrom of 6–7 September 1955 in the Light of International Law |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/gsp/vol2/iss2/4 |journal=Genocide Studies and Prevention|volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=138, 141 |issn=1911-0359}} In September 1955, a bomb exploded close to the Turkish consulate in Greece's second-largest city Thessaloniki, also damaging the Atatürk Museum, site of Atatürk's birthplace, breaking some windows but causing little other damage.{{Google books |title=Turkey and the West: From Neutrality to Commitment |page=310 |id=vYnpBQAAQBAJ}} In retaliation, in Istanbul, thousands of shops, houses, churches and graves belonging to members of the ethnic Greek minority were destroyed within a few hours, over 12 people were killed and many more injured.{{Cite web|url = http://www.weloveist.com/istanbul-pogrom|title = The Istanbul Pogrom |website = We Love Istanbul|last = Yaman |first = Ilker |date = 17 March 2014 }} The ongoing struggle between Turkey and Greece over control of Cyprus, and Cypriot intercommunal violence, were concurrent with the pogrom.{{Cite journal |last=Törne |first=Annika |date=2015 |title=Recent Studies on the September Pogrom in Istanbul 1955 |journal=Iran & the Caucasus |volume=19 |issue=4 |page=413 |doi=10.1163/1573384X-20150409 |jstor=43899216 |issn=1609-8498}}{{Cite journal |last=Kourvetaris |first=George A. |title=A Review of "The Mechanism of Catastrophe: The Turkish Pogrom of September 6–7,1955, and the Destruction of the Greek Community of Istanbul" by Spiros Vryonis (New York, Greek Works Com, 2005) |date=2006 |editor-last=Vryonis |editor-first=Spiros |journal=Journal of Political & Military Sociology |volume=34 |issue=2 |page=385 |jstor=45294234 |issn=0047-2697}} Pressure over the resulting London Conference to discuss Cyprus, and to direct attention away from the domestic political problems were the likely motivation of the Turkish Menderes government.{{Cite journal |last=Kuyucu |first=Ali Tuna |date=2005 |title=Ethno-religious 'unmixing' of 'Turkey': 6–7 September riots as a case in Turkish nationalism |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1354-5078.2005.00209.x |journal=Nations and Nationalism |language=en |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=361–380 |doi=10.1111/j.1354-5078.2005.00209.x |issn=1354-5078|url-access=subscription }}

In 1964, Turkish prime minister İsmet İnönü renounced the Greco-Turkish Treaty of Friendship of 1930 and took actions against the Greek minority.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/09/archives/turks-expelling-istanbul-greeks-communitys-plight-worsens-during.html |title = Turks Expelling Istanbul Greeks; Community's Plight Worsens During Cyprus Crisis|date = August 9, 1964| work = The New York Times}}{{cite book|last1= Roudometof |first1= Victor |last2= Agadjanian |first2= Alexander |last3= Pankhurst |first3= Jerry |title= Eastern Orthodoxy in a Global Age: Tradition Faces the 21st Century |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mQRtAAAAQBAJ |year= 2006 |publisher= AltaMira Press| isbn=978-0-75910537-9 |page= 273}} An estimated 50,000 Greeks were expelled.{{Cite news|title=Why Turkey and Greece cannot reconcile|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2017/12/14/why-turkey-and-greece-cannot-reconcile|access-date=2022-02-09|issn=0013-0613}} A 1971 Turkish law nationalised religious high schools and closed the Halki seminary on Istanbul's Heybeli Island, an issue that affects 21st-century relations.{{Cite journal |last1=Toktas |first1=Sule |last2=Aras |first2=Bulent |date=2009 |title=The EU and Minority Rights in Turkey |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=124 |issue=4 |page=703 |doi=10.1002/j.1538-165X.2009.tb00664.x |jstor=25655744 |issn=0032-3195}}{{Cite journal |last1=Dayıoğlu |first1=Ali |last2=Aslım |first2=İlksoy |date=2014-12-31 |title=Reciprocity Problem between Greece and Turkey: The Case of Muslim-Turkish and Greek Minorities |journal=Athens Journal of History |url=http://www.atiner.gr/journals/history/2015-1-1-3-Dayioglu.pdf |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=46 |doi=10.30958/ajhis.1-1-3}}

Contemporary history and issues

File:Andreas Papandreou and Turgut Özal 1986.jpg meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Turgut Özal in Davos, February 1986|left]]

= Military and diplomatic tensions =

Towards the end of the 20th century, there were several high profile incidents between the countries. In 1986 by the border at the Evros River, a Greek soldier was shot dead.{{Cite web |title=Greece demands apology, compensation for soldier's death |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/12/20/Greece-demands-apology-compensation-for-soldiers-death/1399535438800/ |access-date=2022-06-04 |website=UPI |language=en}} In 1987, the Turkish survey ship Sismik 1 nearly triggered a war.{{Cite news |last1=Cowell |first1=Alan |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |date=1987-03-29 |title=Greeks and Turks Ease Aegean Crisis |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/29/world/greeks-and-turks-ease-aegean-crisis.html |access-date=2022-06-04 |issn=0362-4331}} In 1995, a military crisis erupted over an uninhabited island called Imia, over which both countries claim sovereignty.

Lesser incidents where both side exchange fire often occur. This creates volatility when relations are tense and the risk of starting war.{{Cite web |date=2021-05-31 |title=Turkey-Greece: From Maritime Brinkmanship to Dialogue |url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/western-europemediterranean/263-turkey-greece-maritime-brinkmanship-dialogue |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=Crisis Group |language=en}}{{Citation |last1=Larrabee |first1=F. Stephen |title=Relations with Greece and the Balkans |date=2003 |work=Turkish Foreign Policy in an Age of Uncertainty |edition=1 |publisher=RAND Corporation |isbn=978-0-8330-3281-2 |last2=Lesser |first2=Ian O.|pages=71–98 |jstor=10.7249/mr1612cmepp.10 }}

In the 1990s, Duygu Bazoglu Sezer claims Greece pursued a policy of encircling Turkey. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, both Greece and Turkey viewed each other with suspicion as they developed relations with the new countries.Oya Akgönenç, "A Precarious Peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina: The Dayton Accord and Its Prospect for Success," in R. Craig Nation, ed., The Yugoslav Conflict and Its Implications for International Relations, Ravenna: Longo Editore, 1998, pp. 61–70. In 1995, however, this fear materialised. Greece formed a defence co-operation agreement with Syria, and between 1995 and 1998 established good relations with Turkey's other neighbours Iran and Armenia.{{Cite journal |last=Sezer |first=Duygu Bazoglu |date=1999 |title=Turkish Security Challenges in the 1990s |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12019.14 |journal=Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College |page=270 }} In reaction, Turkey spoke with Israel in 1996, which caused uproar in Arab countries.{{Cite journal |last=Sezer |first=Duygu Bazoglu |date=1999 |title=Turkish Security Challenges in the 1990s |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12019.14 |journal=Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College |page=271 }}

Dr. R. Craig Nation of the United States Army War College views the conflict between the nations as a fight for control over the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean.{{Cite book |last=Nation |first=R. Craig |date=2003 |title=War in the Balkans, 1991–2002 |chapter =6: Greece, Turkey, Cyprus |chapter-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12133.10 |journal=Strategic Studies Institute |publisher=US Army War College |page=283 |jstor=resrep12133.10}}

= Positive relations =

{{Main|Greek–Turkish earthquake diplomacy}}

File:Abdullah Öcalan.png, founder of the PKK, designated a terrorist organisation and banned in the US, UK, EU and Turkey[https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/pkk-criminal-networks-and-fronts-europe PKK Criminal Networks and Fronts in Europe][https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/06/28/what-is-the-pkk What is the PKK? And why Turkey and Europe cannot agree on the answer][https://www.statewatch.org/news/2002/may/statewatch-news-online-eu-adds-the-pkk-to-list-of-terrorist-organisations/ Statewatch News online: EU adds the PKK to list of terrorist organisations]|right]]

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.{{Cite journal |last=Nation |first=R. Craig |date=2003 |title=Greece, Turkey, Cyprus |journal=War in the Balkans, 1991–2002 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12133.10 |page=304}} 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.{{Cite web |title=BBC News {{!}} Europe {{!}} Greek ministers resign over Ocalan |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/281816.stm |access-date=2022-03-16 |website=news.bbc.co.uk}}{{Cite book |last=Nation |first=R. Craig |title=War in the Balkans, 1991–2002: [comprehensive history of wars provoked by Yugoslav collapse: Balkan region in world politics, Slovenia and Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus |date=2003 |publisher=Progressive Management] |isbn=978-1-5201-2165-9 |location=[S. l. |page=307 |oclc=1146235450}} 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.{{Cite journal |last1=Ganapati |first1=N. Emel |last2=Kelman |first2=Ilan |last3=Koukis |first3=Theodore |date=2010 |title=Analysing Greek–Turkish disaster related cooperation: A disaster diplomacy perspective |journal=Cooperation and Conflict |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=162–185 |doi=10.1177/0010836709347216 |jstor=45084601 |s2cid=143524833 |issn=0010-8367}}{{Cite journal |last=Kelman |first=Ilan |title=Acting on Disaster Diplomacy |date=2006 |journal=Journal of International Affairs |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=215–240 |jstor=24358434 |issn=0022-197X}}

In the years that followed, relations improved.{{Cite journal |last=Nation |first=R. Craig |date=2003 |title=Greece, Turkey, Cyprus |journal=War in the Balkans, 1991–2002 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12133.10 |page=308}} They included 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 European Union (EU).{{Cite web |work=BBC News |title=EU warms towards Turkey |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/445482.stm |access-date=2022-06-03 |date=1999-09-13}} Dr R. Craig Nation states there was a lot of progress but ultimately not on the issues that mattered.{{Cite journal |last=Nation |first=R. Craig |date=2003 |title=Greece, Turkey, Cyprus |journal=War in the Balkans, 1991–2002 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12133.10 |pages=308–309}}

In December 2023, a new attempt was made at peaceful relations. Dialogue has opened, with the signing of a declaration on good neighbourly relations.{{Cite news |last=Bayer |first=Lili |date=2023-12-07 |title=Greece and Turkey sign 15 deals during 'groundbreaking' Erdoğan visit to Athens – as it happened |language=en-GB |work=the Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/dec/07/recep-tayyip-erdogan-turkey-greece-kyriakos-mitsotakis-europe-live |access-date=2023-12-08 |issn=0261-3077}} Pundits remain unconvinced it means anything, at least until the Cyprus issue is addressed.{{Cite web |last=Rose |first=Caroline D. |date=2023-12-04 |title=Turkey and Greece Are Talking Again |url=https://geopoliticalfutures.com/turkey-and-greece-are-talking-again/ |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=Geopolitical Futures |language=en-US}} Despite this, efforts continue to create goodwill, such as Turkey supporting the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece.[https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1240571/turkey-denies-firman-giving-lord-elgin-rights-to-sell-parthenon-sculptures/ Turkey denies firman giving Lord Elgin rights to sell Parthenon sculptures]. Kathimerini, 4 June 2024. Accessed 10 April 2025

= The Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean conflicts =

{{Main|Aegean dispute}}

The conflict between Turkey and Greece is largely over whether the Greek islands are allowed an exclusive economic zone, the basis of claiming rights over the sea.{{Cite web |title=Greece v. Turkey, Maritime Conflict Over The Aegean Sea: An International Law Perspective – Marine/ Shipping – Cyprus |url=https://www.mondaq.com/cyprus/marine-shipping/1173020/greece-v-turkey-maritime-conflict-over-the-aegean-sea-an-international-law-perspective |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=www.mondaq.com}}{{Cite web |last=map000 |title=EU v. Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean: a good moment to sponsor dispute settlement {{!}} The NCLOS Blog |url=https://site.uit.no/nclos/2020/09/30/eu-v-turkey-in-the-eastern-mediterranean-a-good-moment-to-sponsor-dispute-settlement/ |access-date=2022-06-03 |language=en-US}} Some claim fear of sovereignty loss is what is driving this conflict.{{Cite journal |last=Papacosma |first=S. Victor |title=Legacy of Strife: Greece, Turkey, and the Aegean |date=1984 |journal=Studia Diplomatica |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=295–318 |jstor=44835392 |issn=0770-2965}} Under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Blue Homeland policy of Turkey has emerged.{{Cite web |date=2020-08-14 |title=Blue Homeland: the doctrine behind Turkey's Mediterranean claims |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/blue-homeland-the-doctrine-behind-turkey-s-mediterranean-claims-1.1063591 |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=The National |language=en}} Islands and islets Iying within {{Convert|3|miles|km|abbr=out|spell=in}} of the coast were included as part of the respective state under the Treaty of Lausanne.{{Cite web |title=Treaty of Lausanne - World War I Document Archive |url=https://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Treaty_of_Lausanne |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=wwi.lib.byu.edu}} Greece controversially extended this limit to {{Convert|6|miles|km|abbr=out|spell=in}} in 1936, which Turkey did not dispute due to good relations and reciprocated in 1964.{{Cite web |last=Inan |first=Yüksel |date=2022-06-07 |title=The Aegean Disputes |url=http://foreignpolicy.org.tr/documents/251202.pdf |access-date=2022-06-07 |website=Turkish Foreign Policy Institute}} The conference for the UN sea treaty UNCLOS defined territorial waters in 1982 and came into force in 1994.{{Cite web |title=International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea: UNCLOS |url=https://www.itlos.org/en/main/the-tribunal/unclos/ |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=www.itlos.org}}{{Citation |last1=Hoagland |first1=P. |title=Law Of The Sea |date=2001-01-01 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B012227430X004153 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences |pages=1481–1492 |editor-last=Steele |editor-first=John H. |place=Oxford |publisher=Academic Press |language=en |doi=10.1006/rwos.2001.0415 |isbn=978-0-12-227430-5 |access-date=2022-06-03 |last2=Jacoby |first2=J. |last3=Schumacher |first3=M. E.|url-access=subscription }}

There are 168 nations as signatories of the treaty, including Greece but not Turkey.{{Cite web |title=United Nations Treaty Collection |url=https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetailsIII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXI-6&chapter=21 |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=treaties.un.org |language=EN}} Turkey disputes Greece can claim 12 miles off the coast of its islands, which the sea treaty permits, implying only the mainland has this right, otherwise it would give Greece dominant control of the Aegean. Turkey has made a claim for the economic zone by splitting the Aegean Sea in the middle.{{Cite journal |last=Erdoğan |first=Ayfer |date=2021 |title=The Legal and Political Dimensions of the Eastern Mediterranean Crisis: What Is at Stake? |journal=Insight Turkey |volume=23 |issue=1 |page=82 |doi=10.25253/99.2021231.7 |jstor=26989818 |s2cid=233828342 |issn=1302-177X|doi-access=free }} The EU requires membership of the sea treaty as a condition.{{Cite web |last=Newsroom |title=EU foreign affairs chief urges Turkey to sign UNCLOS {{!}} eKathimerini.com |url=https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1174294/eu-foreign-affairs-chief-urges-turkey-to-sign-unclos/ |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=www.ekathimerini.com |language=English}}

There has been an extension of the conflict with other nations in the Mediterranean. In 2019 and 2022, Turkey made deals with Libya to extend its economic rights over the sea, which were countered with Greece and Egypt.{{Cite web |date=2021-04-23 |title=Egypt, Greece sign maritime deal to counter Libya-Turkey one |url=https://apnews.com/article/turkey-libya-egypt-cairo-middle-east-fc1754ebee8429afd79a4750d6adaa40 |access-date=2022-06-09 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Turkey-Libya preliminary deal prompts Greece, Egypt to push back |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/turkey-libyan-government-agree-preliminary-maritime-energy-deal-2022-10-03/ |date=3 October 2022 |website=reuters}}

The Cyprus dispute created a subsequent military build up.{{Cite web |title=Militarization of Eastern Aegean Islands Contrary tp the Provisions of International Agreements / Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs |url=https://www.mfa.gov.tr/militarization-of-eastern-aegean-islands-contrary-tp-the-provisions-of-international-agreements.en.mfa |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=www.mfa.gov.tr}}{{Cite web |date=2021-05-31 |title=Turkey-Greece: From Maritime Brinkmanship to Dialogue |url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/western-europemediterranean/263-turkey-greece-maritime-brinkmanship-dialogue |access-date=2022-06-04 |website=Crisis Group |language=en}} The dispute escalated with Greece's coup in Cyprus, which led to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. In 1974, Greece reacted with the militarisation of the Greek islands off the coast of Turkey, the legality of which is challenged by Turkey. In 1975, Turkey created Izmir army base. Military buildups in 2022 have continued.{{cite web|url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkiye-to-eavesdrop-on-greek-waters-with-sonobuoys-177504|title=Türkiye to 'eavesdrop on Greek waters with sonobuoys'|website=hurriyetdailynews|date=7 October 2022}}{{Cite web|title=Turkey's Leader Warns Greece Its Missiles Can Hit Athens |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-11/turkey-greece-tensions-erdogan-warns-missiles-can-hit-athens |date=11 December 2022 |website=bloomberg}}{{Cite web|title=Greece continues to increase tension, defense minister says |url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/greece-continues-to-increase-tension-defense-minister-says-179291 |date=12 December 2022 |website=hurriyetdailynews}}{{Cite web|title=Erdoğan warns Greece that Turkish missiles can reach Athens|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/erdogan-warns-greece-that-turkish-missiles-can-reach-athens%ef%bf%bc/ |date=11 December 2022 |website=politico.eu}}{{overcite|date=January 2023}}

= Cyprus and the EU =

{{Main|Cyprus problem|Cyprus in the European Union|Accession of Turkey to the European Union|Turkey–European Union relations|Operation Irini}}

File:NCyprus districts named.png has been recognised only by Turkey since its establishment in 1983.]]

Greece has been a member of the EU since 1981.{{Cite web |title=Greece |url=https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/country-profiles/greece_en |access-date=2022-06-04 |website=european-union.europa.eu |language=en}} Cyprus joined in 2004.{{Cite web |title=Cyprus |url=https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/country-profiles/cyprus_en |access-date=2022-06-04 |website=european-union.europa.eu |language=en}} Turkey submitted its application to join in 1987 and became a full candidate in 1999. Accession negotiations were started in 2005, but have been stalled since 2016.{{Cite web |title=Turkey |url=https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/enlargement-policy/negotiations-status/turkey_en |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=ec.europa.eu |language=en}}

Greece since its admission had made a concentrated effort to oppose Turkey's admission to the EU and was scapegoated for resentment when it happened.{{Cite journal |last=Sezer |first=Duygu Bazoglu |date=1999 |title=Turkish Security Challenges in the 1990s |journal=Mediterranean Security into the Coming Millennium |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12019.14 |pages=263–279}}{{Cite journal |last=Nation |first=R. Craig |date=2003 |title=Greece, Turkey, Cyprus |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12133.10 |journal=Strategic Studies Institute |publisher=US Army War College |page=297 }} This is despite its change of policy post 1995 and that was advocated during the Papandreou government. Concerns about Turkey's developmental and demographic imbalances as well as human rights and its war with Abdullah Öcalan’s Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) were factors in the EU decision but in Turkey it was felt due to the “Christians’ Club" of the EU.{{Cite journal |last=Nation |first=R. Craig |date=2003 |title=Greece, Turkey, Cyprus |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12133.10 |journal=Strategic Studies Institute |publisher=US Army War College |page=297 }} In Turkey, this contributed to the shift away from Turkey's founding secular doctrine Kemalism and the rise of political Islam.{{Cite journal |last=Nation |first=R. Craig |date=2003 |title=Greece, Turkey, Cyprus |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12133.10 |journal=Strategic Studies Institute |publisher=US Army War College |pages=297–298}} There was a change to the Kemalism amnesia of the Ottoman Empire's past, which instead became a source of pride and identity for Turkey.{{Cite journal |last=Nation |first=R. Craig |date=2003 |title=Greece, Turkey, Cyprus |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12133.10 |journal=Strategic Studies Institute |publisher=US Army War College |page=298}} Kemalism evolved to an alternative identity of European orientation as Turkey became a regional centre in the emerging Eurasian political formation.

In the 1990s, friction around Turkey's EU accession involving Cyprus was paralleled by military tensions between Turkey and Greece.{{Cite journal |last=Nation |first=R. Craig |date=2003 |title=Greece, Turkey, Cyprus |journal=War in the Balkans, 1991–2002 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12133.10 |pages=279–324}} In 1994, Greece and Cyprus agreed on a security doctrine that would mean any Turkish military action in Cyprus would cause war with Greece.{{Cite book |title=Mediterranean security at the crossroads: a reader |date=1999 |publisher=Duke University Press |editor=Nikolaos A. Stavrou |isbn=0-8223-2459-8 |location=Durham, NC |page=77 |oclc=40954044}} In 1997, Cyprus purchased two Soviet-era S-300 missile systems, resulting in a political standoff between Cyprus and Turkey.{{Cite web |date=1997-01-11 |title=Turkey hints at strike on Cypriot missiles |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/turkey-hints-at-strike-on-cypriot-missiles-1282572.html |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=The Independent |language=en}} Negotiations on the division on the island in the 1990s failed because of the Turkish side's recognition of North Cyprus as an independent state, an issue that remains as of 2022.{{Cite web |title=Turkish Cypriot President slams EU, backs its position - Turkey News |url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-cyprus-president-slams-eu-backs-its-position-ankara-170317 |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=Hürriyet Daily News |date=25 December 2021 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Tatar insists on sovereign equality to start Cyprus talks |url=https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/tatar-insists-on-sovereign-equality-to-start-cyprus-talks/ |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=in-cyprus.philenews.com |language=en-US |archive-date=31 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131080328/https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/tatar-insists-on-sovereign-equality-to-start-cyprus-talks/ |url-status=dead }} When Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, the possibility of a veto by Cyprus contributed to other issues involving Turkey.{{Cite book |last=Kontos |first=Michalis |title=Great Power Politics in Cyprus: Foreign Interventions and Domestic Perceptions. |date=2014 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |others=Sozos-Christos Theodoulou, Nikos Panayiotides, Haralambos Alexandrou |isbn=978-1-4438-6325-4 |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |page=120 |oclc=882778455}}

Turkey's migrant crisis has also had a big effect on its relationship with the EU. The enforcement of the arms embargo against Libya Operation Irini brought other EU members into conflict with Turkey. Gas drilling on territory disputed with Greece using research vessel RV MTA Oruç Reis led to EU sanctions against Turkey.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/11/eu-leaders-sanctions-turkey-gas-drilling |title=EU leaders approve sanctions on Turkish officials over gas drilling |website=The Guardian |date=11 December 2020 }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-turkey-warships-idUSKCN25A161|title=Greek, Turkish warships in 'mini collision' Ankara calls provocative |author=Michele Kambas |author2=Tuvan Gumrukcu |work=Reuters|date=August 14, 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-greece/turkeys-oruc-reis-survey-vessel-back-near-southern-shore-ship-tracker-shows-idUSKBN2640AX?edition-redirect=in |title=Turkey's Oruc Reis survey vessel back near southern shore, ship tracker shows |website=Reuters |date=15 September 2020}}{{overcite|date=January 2023}}

= Energy pipelines =

File:Global gas reserves.png nations that surround the Caspian Sea.]]

The 2010 discovery of natural gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean, first by Israel and then Egypt, has increased tensions between Greece and Turkey.{{Cite journal |date=2020-02-24 |title=Analysis: Greek Security Policy {{!}} In the Eastern Mediterranean |url=https://www.setav.org/en/analysis-greek-security-policy-in-the-eastern-mediterranean/ |access-date=2022-04-07 |journal=SETA |language=en-GB |last1=Lika |first1=Idlir }} The region is estimated to contain 5% of the world's known natural gas reserves.{{Cite journal |last=Başeren |first=Sertaç Hamį |date=2021 |title=Root Causes of the Eastern Mediterranean Dispute: Approaches of the Main Actors |journal=Insight Turkey |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=11–22 |doi=10.25253/99.2021231.2 |jstor=26989813 |s2cid=233835370 |issn=1302-177X|doi-access=free }} Historical security issues of the Aegean and Cyprus are important for resolving Europe's energy needs. The 2016 Turkey-Israel reconciliation led to Greece sabotaging the 2017 Cyprus–UN talks to reunify the island, preventing Israel and Turkey from 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 gas from the Caspian Sea its first direct Western outlet.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/world/europe/19greece.html|title=Greece and Turkey Open Gas Pipeline|work=The New York Times|date=19 November 2007|access-date=1 February 2009|first=Anthee|last=Carassava}} The Caspian Sea is one of the oldest oil-producing regions; it is estimated to have reserves of 48 billion barrels,{{Cite web |title=International – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) |url=https://www.eia.gov/international/analysis/regions-of-interest/Caspian_Sea |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=www.eia.gov}} and 292 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The opening of these fields followed more than 20 years of negotiation following the 2018 convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea.{{Cite news |author=Ann M. Simmons in Moscow and Benoit Faucon in London |date=2018-08-12 |title=Caspian Nations Move to Settle Dispute on Oil and Gas Reserves |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/caspian-nations-move-to-settle-dispute-on-oil-and-gas-reserves-1534096428 |access-date=2022-04-11 |issn=0099-9660}} Outside of the Caspian Sea nations, there are other suppliers that wish to leverage the geographical positioning of the nations. In May 2022, Greece signed a deal with Turkey's rival the United Arab Emirates for the distribution of the UAE's liquefied natural gas.{{Cite news |date=2022-05-09 |title=Greece, UAE agree joint investments in energy, other sectors |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/greece-uae-agree-joint-investments-energy-other-sectors-2022-05-09/ |access-date=2022-05-12}}{{Cite periodical |last1=Aydıntaşba |first1=Asli |last2=Bianco |first2=Cinzia |date=2021 |title=Useful Enemies: How the Turkey–UAE Rivalry is Remaking the Middle East |magazine=European Council on Foreign Relations |jstor=resrep30221 |jstor-access=free}}

= Minority rights =

{{main|Greeks in Turkey|Turks in Greece|Population exchange between Greece and Turkey}}

{{See also|Minorities in Greece|Minorities in Turkey}}

The treaty of Lausanne provided for the protection of the Greek Orthodox Christian minority in Turkey and the Muslim minority in Greece.{{Cite journal |last1=Toktas |first1=Sule |last2=Aras |first2=Bulent |date=2009 |title=The EU and Minority Rights in Turkey |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=124 |issue=4 |page=700 |doi=10.1002/j.1538-165X.2009.tb00664.x |jstor=25655744 |issn=0032-3195}} The Greek minority in Turkey has shrunk from over 200,000 in 1923 to only 2,000 in 2023, while the Turkish minority in Greece has remained steady at 120,000 in the same period.{{in lang|en}} [https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71383.htm US Department of State - Religious Freedom, Greece]

Minorities in both countries since have been affected by the state of relations between them. Minorities are used as leverage, using the principle of reciprocity.{{Cite journal |last1=Dayıoğlu |first1=Ali |last2=Aslım |first2=İlksoy |date=2014-12-31 |title=Reciprocity Problem between Greece and Turkey: The Case of Muslim-Turkish and Greek Minorities |journal=Athens Journal of History |url=http://www.atiner.gr/journals/history/2015-1-1-3-Dayioglu.pdf |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=37–50 |doi=10.30958/ajhis.1-1-3}} In the 1960s, Turkey pressured the Greek minority in Turkey when the Cyprus issue escalated. Turkey used the election of Muftis by the Muslim Turkish minority in Greece as a condition for opening Halki Seminary which was closed in 1971. As a reaction in 1972, Greece closed a Turkish school in Rhodes. In recent years{{when|date=January 2023}}, Turkey has used its cultural heritage, such as Sumela Monastery, to achieve political ends.{{Cite journal |last1=Gavra |first1=Eleni |last2=Bourlidou |first2=Anastasia |last3=Gkioufi |first3=Klairi |date=2012 |title=Management of the Greek's ekistics and cultural heritage in Turkey |url=https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/120596 |website=EconStor}}{{cite news |title= Tension between Turkey, Greece flares up with row over genocide, Sümela| work =Hürriyet daily news|url= http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/tension-between-turkey-greece-flares-up-with-row-over-genocide-sumela.aspx?pageID=238&nID=102902&NewsCatID=510}}

File:Adalar 6954.jpg

Examples of minority mistreatment include:

  • During World War II, Turkey nationalised its industry and imposed the Varlık Vergisi, a discriminatory wealth tax that targeted religious minorities.{{Cite journal |last1=Dayıoğlu |first1=Ali |last2=Aslım |first2=İlksoy |date=2014-12-31 |title=Reciprocity Problem between Greece and Turkey: The Case of Muslim-Turkish and Greek Minorities |journal=Athens Journal of History |url=http://www.atiner.gr/journals/history/2015-1-1-3-Dayioglu.pdf |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=40 |doi=10.30958/ajhis.1-1-3}}
  • Turkey blamed Greeks for Turkey's economic problems, resulting in the Istanbul pogrom.{{Cite journal |last1=Dayıoğlu |first1=Ali |last2=Aslım |first2=İlksoy |date=2014-12-31 |title=Reciprocity Problem between Greece and Turkey: The Case of Muslim-Turkish and Greek Minorities |journal=Athens Journal of History |url=http://www.atiner.gr/journals/history/2015-1-1-3-Dayioglu.pdf |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=42 |doi=10.30958/ajhis.1-1-3}}
  • In 1967, the Greek military government deported Turkish citizens on the Dodecanese peninsula.
  • In 1955, Greece's Article 19 of the Nationality Code established two classes of Greek citizens; those of "non-Greek descent" lost their citizenship if they left the country. By the time of its abolition in 1998, 60,000 people had lost their citizenship and the abolition had no retroactive effect.{{Cite journal |last=Sitaropoulos |first=Nicholas |date=2004 |title=Freedom of Movement and the Right to a Nationality v. Ethnic Minorities: The Case of ex Article 19 of the Greek Nationality Code |journal=European Journal of Migration and Law |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=205–206 |doi=10.1163/1571816043020011 |issn=1388-364X}}

The election of Muftis in Greece and the reopening of the Halki Seminary in Turkey have become the most prominent issues. Issues around political authority and pre-conditions contribute to the stalemate.{{Cite journal |last1=Dayıoğlu |first1=Ali |last2=Aslım |first2=İlksoy |date=2014-12-31 |title=Reciprocity Problem between Greece and Turkey: The Case of Muslim-Turkish and Greek Minorities |journal=Athens Journal of History |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=47 |doi=10.30958/ajhis.1-1-3 |issn=2407-9677|doi-access=free }}{{Cite web |title=Hiç engel yok 24 saatte okul açılır |url=http://www.radikal.com.tr/politika/hic_engel_yok_24_saatte_okul_acilir-1093221/ |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=Radikal |language=tr}}{{Cite web |last=DHA |title=Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan: Tribünde seyirci değiliz |url=https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/cumhurbaskani-erdogan-tribunde-seyirci-degiliz-27122551 |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=www.hurriyet.com.tr |date=2 September 2014 |language=tr}} Former Greek prime minister George Papandreou has said Turkey and Greece would benefit if they treated minorities as citizens rather than foreigners.

= Migrants =

{{main|Turkey's migrant crisis}}

File:Map of the European Migrant Crisis 2015.png

Turkey has become a transit country for people entering Europe.{{Cite book |first=İçduygu |last=Ahmet |title=Turkey's evolving migration policies: a Mediterranean transit stop at the doors of the EU |oclc=1088484424}} 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 in the Middle East and North Africa, with irregular migration from further East continuing.{{Cite book |last=Benvenuti |first=Bianca |title=The migration paradox and EU-Turkey relations |year=2017 |publisher=Istituto Affari Internazionali |isbn=978-88-9368-023-3 |oclc=1030914649}} Turkey assumed the role of guardian of the Schengen Area, protecting it from irregular migration. This, combined with Turkey's migrant crisis, has resulted in illegal migration being a key issue between Turkey and the EU. People moving across the border of Greece and Turkey are a frequent cause of incidents between the two countries.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3149744.stm|title=BBC NEWS – Europe – Landmine deaths on Greek border|date=29 September 2003|access-date=8 April 2016}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1639933.stm|title=BBC News – Europe – Greece rescues immigrant ship|date=5 November 2001|access-date=8 April 2016}}{{cite web|title=Turkish coast guard caught escorting smugglers into Greece – report|url=http://sofiaecho.com/2009/09/21/787733_turkish-coast-guard-caught-escorting-smugglers-into-greece-report|date=September 21, 2009|publisher=The Sofia Echo|access-date=June 28, 2013|archive-date=June 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130620025622/http://sofiaecho.com/2009/09/21/787733_turkish-coast-guard-caught-escorting-smugglers-into-greece-report}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-turkey-eu/turkeys-erdogan-accuses-greece-of-nazi-tactics-against-migrants-at-border-idUSKBN20Y14V|title=Turkey's Erdogan accuses Greece of Nazi tactics against migrants at border|website=reuters|date=11 March 2020}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/greece-returns-2-turkish-soldiers-at-border-136661|title=Greece returns 2 Turkish soldiers at border – Turkey News|website=Hürriyet Daily News|date=10 September 2018 }}{{Cite web|title=Video shows Hellenic Coast Guard vessel being harassed by Turkish one {{!}} Kathimerini|url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/250328/article/ekathimerini/news/video-shows-hellenic-coast-guard-vessel-being-harassed-by-turkish-one|access-date=2020-06-05|website=www.ekathimerini.com|language=en}}{{overcite|date=January 2023}}

In 2016, the EU and Turkey reached a deal on the migrant crisis. There was some success with the four-year agreement extended to 2022, but several incidents have occurred. In 2019, the Greek government warned a new migrant crisis similar to the previous one would occur.{{Cite web |title=Greece sees first mass arrival of migrant boats in three years, Karolina Tagaris | Kathimerini |url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/244080/article/ekathimerini/news/greece-sees-first-mass-arrival-of-migrant-boats-in-three-years |website=www.ekathimerini.com}}{{Cite news |last1=Ensor |first1=Josie |last2=Squires |first2=Nick |date=August 30, 2019 |title=More than 600 refugees arrive on Lesbos in one day in record high since migrant crisis |newspaper=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/30/500-refugees-arrive-lesbos-one-day-record-high-since-migrant/ |via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}{{Cite web|url=https://thearabweekly.com/refugee-numbers-rise-greece-and-turkey-face-new-border-challenges|title=As refugee numbers rise, Greece and Turkey face new border challenges | Thomas Seibert|website=AW}}{{overcite|date=January 2023}}

= Turkish insurgents and asylum seekers =

During the 2010 trial of those accused of organising a 2003 alleged military coup attempt in Turkey called Sledgehammer, the conspirators were accused of planning attacks on mosques, triggering a conflict with Greece by Turkey shooting down one of its own warplanes and then accusing Greeks of this and planting bombs in Istanbul to initiate a military takeover.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/8159925/Turkey-suspends-generals-linked-to-alleged-coup-plot.html|title=Turkey suspends generals linked to alleged coup plot|date=25 November 2010 |publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited|access-date=25 November 2010}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14346325|title=Turkey: Military chiefs resign en masse |work=BBC News |date=29 July 2011 |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=29 July 2011}}{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-coup-verdict-factbox-idUSBRE9980O220131009|title=Factbox: What was Turkey's 'Sledgehammer' trial?|date=9 October 2013|work=reuters|access-date=9 October 2013}}

Greece has on many occasions arrested members of the DHKP-C who planned attacks in Turkey.{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/dhkpc-arrests-in-greece-coordinated-by-cia-mit-eyp-62411|title=DHKP/C arrests in Greece coordinated by CIA, MİT, EYP|website=Hürriyet Daily News|date=13 February 2014 |access-date=6 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/arrested-dhkp-c-militants-plotted-to-assassinate-erdogan-in-athens-greek-media-124323|title=Arrested DHKP-C militants plotted to assassinate Erdoğan in Athens: Greek media|website=Hürriyet Daily News|date=18 December 2017 |access-date=6 January 2018}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/greece-to-extradite-suspected-terrorist-to-turkey-132711|title=Greek court rules to extradite suspected terrorist to Turkey – Turkey News|website=Hürriyet Daily News|date=June 2018 }} Turkey has accused Greece of supporting terrorists such as the DHKP-C.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/greece-harbors-terrorist-including-pkk-says-turkey-163830|title=Greece harbors terrorist, including PKK, says Turkey|website=Hürriyet Daily News|date=10 April 2021 }}

Turkey has seen a slide to authoritarianism resulting in Turkish refugees becoming more common, like politician Leyla Birlik accused of insulting the president.{{Cite journal |last1=Christofis |first1=Nikos |last2=Baser |first2=Bahar |last3=Öztürk |first3=Ahmet Erdi |date=2019-03-06 |title=The View from Next Door: Greek-Turkish Relations after the Coup Attempt in Turkey |url=http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/5400/1/Greek-Turkish-relations_Final-submission.pdf |journal=The International Spectator |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=67–86 |doi=10.1080/03932729.2019.1570758 |issn=0393-2729 |s2cid=159124051}} This has increased since the failed 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, after which 995 people, including military personnel, applied for asylum.{{cite web|url= http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/995-turks-seek-asylum-in-greece-121356|title=995 Turks seek asylum in Greece|website= Hürriyet Daily News|date=24 October 2017 |access-date=6 January 2018}}{{cite web |title=Turkish FM: Military attaches in Athens have fled to Italy |date=8 November 2016 |url=http://www.naftemporiki.gr/story/1136774/turkish-fm-military-attaches-in-athens-have-fled-to-italy|publisher=naftemporiki}}{{cite web |title=Statement about Turkish attaches brings Greek relief |url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/211184/article/ekathimerini/news/statement-about-turkish-attaches-brings-greek-relief|publisher=kathimerini}}{{cite web |title=Seven Turkish citizens seek asylum in Greece after coup bid | date=26 August 2016 |url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/seven-turkish-citizens-seek-asylum-in-greece-after-coup-bid.aspx?pageID=238&nID=103251&NewsCatID=509|publisher=hurriyet}}{{cite web |title=Seven Turkish citizens requesting asylum in Greece |url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/211465/article/ekathimerini/news/seven-turkish-citizens-requesting-asylum-in-greece|publisher=ekathimerini}}{{cite web |title=Turkish judge escapes to Greece on migrant boat, seeks asylum | date=30 August 2016 |url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-judge-escapes-to-greece-on-migrant-boat-seeks-asylum.aspx?pageID=238&nid=103389|publisher=hurriyet}}{{cite web |title=Media report: Turkish judicial official requests asylum in Greece |date=30 August 2016 |url=http://www.naftemporiki.gr/story/1142166/media-report-turkish-judicial-official-requests-asylum-in-greece|publisher=naftemporiki}}{{cite web |title=Turkish judicial official requests asylum on Greek island |url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/211592/article/ekathimerini/news/turkish-judicial-official-requests-asylum-on-greek-island|publisher=ekathimerini}}{{cite news |title=Turkish judge seeks asylum in Greece: news agency |date=30 August 2016 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-greece-idUSKCN1151WK|work=reuters}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/greece-rejects-asylum-requests-by-three-turkish-officers-1474477728|title=Greece Rejects Asylum Requests by Three Turkish Officer|author1=Stelios Bouras|author2=Nektaria Stamouli|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=September 21, 2016|via=www.wsj.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/more-turks-seek-asylum-in-greece-after-coup-attempt-1475605510|title=More Turks Seek Asylum in Greece After Coup Attempt|first=Nektaria|last=Stamouli|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=October 4, 2016|via=www.wsj.com}}{{overcite|date=January 2023}} More than 1,800 Turkish citizens requested asylum in Greece in 2017, including those who plotted the assassination.{{cite web|url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/216469/article/ekathimerini/news/turkish-commandos-ask-for-asylum|title=Turkish commandos ask for asylum|date=23 February 2017|publisher=kathimerini}}{{cite web|url= http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/seventeen-turkish-citizens-seek-sanctuary-in-greece-greek-coastguard-127666|title=Seventeen Turkish citizens seek sanctuary in Greece: Greek coastguard|website=Hürriyet Daily News|date=21 February 2018 |access-date=21 February 2018}} Sometimes, this causes tensions between the nations in other areas.{{Cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-suspends-refugee-readmission-deal-with-greece-132955|title=Turkey suspends 'migrant readmission' deal with Greece – Turkey News|website=Hürriyet Daily News|date=7 June 2018 }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/nato-chief-calls-for-calm-amid-turkey-greece-crisis-132980|title=NATO chief calls for 'calm' amid Turkey-Greece crisis – Turkey News|website=Hürriyet Daily News|date=8 June 2018 }}{{cite web|title=Sector group: Coup attempt in Turkey to negatively affect Greek tourism|date=8 January 2016|url=http://www.naftemporiki.gr/story/1133579/sector-group-coup-attempt-in-turkey-to-negatively-affect-greek-tourism|publisher=naftemporiki}}{{overcite|date=January 2023}}

Timeline

class="wikitable" width="100%"

! style="width:6%" | Year

style="width:10%" | DateEvent
rowspan="2" valign="top" | 192330 JanuaryTurkey and Greece sign the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations agreement{{Cite web |title=Lausanne Peace Treaty VI. Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations Signed at Lausanne, January 30, 1923. / Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs |url=https://www.mfa.gov.tr/lausanne-peace-treaty-vi_-convention-concerning-the-exchange-of-greek-and-turkish-populations-signed-at-lausanne_.en.mfa |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=www.mfa.gov.tr}}
24 JulyTreaty of Lausanne is signed.{{Cite journal |last=Xypolia |first=Ilia |date=2021-10-02 |title=Imperial Bending of Rules: The British Empire, the Treaty of Lausanne, and Cypriot Immigration to Turkey |journal=Diplomacy & Statecraft |language=en |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=674–691 |doi=10.1080/09592296.2021.1996711 |s2cid=246234931 |issn=0959-2296|doi-access=free |hdl=2164/18252 |hdl-access=free }} It would come into force 6 August 1924.
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 192626 JuneMahalli Idareler Kanunu (the local government act; no. 1151/1927), concerning the local administration of Imbros and Tenedos islands was published, which stripped the islands of their local governance.{{cite book|last=Alexandris|first=Alexis|title=Imbros and Tenedos:: A Study of Turkish Attitudes Toward Two Ethnic Greek Island Communities Since 1923|year=1980|publisher=Pella Publishing Company|page=21|url=http://triceratops.brynmawr.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10066/13027/07_1_1980.pdf?sequence=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150422023849/http://triceratops.brynmawr.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10066/13027/07_1_1980.pdf?sequence=1|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 April 2015}} This was seen as revoking article 14 of the Treaty of Lausanne; it is argued the provisions were never observed.{{Cite book |last=Unidos) |first=Helsinki Watch (Organización : Estados |title=Denying human rights and ethnic identity: the Greeks of Turkey. |year=1992 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn=1-56432-056-1 |oclc=1088883463}}
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 193314 SeptemberGreece and Turkey sign a Pact of Cordial Friendship.{{Cite news |last=TIMES |first=Wireless to THE NEW YORK |date=1930-06-11 |title=GREECE AND TURKEY IN FRIENDSHIP PACT; Signing of Accord at Istanbul Ends 100 Years' Armed Enmity Between the Nations. MORE TREATIES TO FOLLOW Greece Agrees to Pay $2,125,000 Indemnity – Status Quo Is Recognized Under Pact. Turkish Press Hails Pact. Lauds Balkan Union Plan. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/06/11/archives/greece-and-turkey-in-friendship-pact-signing-of-accord-at-istanbul.html |access-date=2022-04-28 |issn=0362-4331}}
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 19349 FebruaryGreece and Turkey, as well as Romania and Yugoslavia, sign the Balkan Pact, a mutual defence treaty.{{Cite journal |last=Türkeş |first=Mustafa |date=1994 |title=The Balkan Pact and Its Immediate Implications for the Balkan States, 1930–34 |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=123–144 |doi=10.1080/00263209408700986 |jstor=4283618 |issn=0026-3206|hdl=11511/46837 |hdl-access=free }}
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 193827 AprilGreece and Turkey sign the Additional Treaty to the Treaty of Friendship, Neutrality, Conciliation and Arbitration of 30 October 1930, and the Pact of Cordial Friendship of 14 September 1933.{{Cite web |date=1938 |title=ADDITIONAL TREATY TO THE TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP, NEUTRALITY, CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION OF OCTOBER 30TH, 1930, AND TO THE PACT OF CORDIAL FRIENDSHIP OF SEPTEMBER 14TH, 1933, BETWEEN GREECE AND TURKEY. SIGNED AT ATHENS, APRIL 27TH, 1938 |url=http://www.forost.ungarisches-institut.de/pdf/19380427-1.pdf |access-date=2022-04-28}}
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 19416 OctoberSS Kurtuluş starts the first of five voyages, carrying humanitarian aid to Greece to alleviate the Great Famine during the Axis occupation of Greece.{{Cite book |last=Papastratis |first=Procopis |title=British policy towards Greece during the Second World War, 1941–1944 |date=1984 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-24342-4 |location=Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] |page=116 |oclc=9555801}}
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 194211 NovemberTurkey nationalises its industry and enacts Varlık Vergisi, a discriminatory tax targeted at non-Muslims minorities, including the Greek minority.
1947

| 31 March

British authorities hand over the Dodecanese islands to Greece{{Cite web |date=2022-03-07 |title=On This Day: The unification of the Dodecanese islands with Greece |url=https://greekherald.com.au/culture/history/on-day-unification-dodecanese-islands-with-greece/ |access-date=2022-04-28 |website=Greek Herald |language=en-AU}} following the Treaty of Peace with Italy.
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 1950Greece and Turkey both fight in the Korean War on the side of the UN forces.{{Cite journal |last=Stueck |first=William |date=1986 |title=The Korean War as International History |journal=Diplomatic History |volume=10 |issue=4 |page=292 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-7709.1986.tb00462.x |jstor=24911701 |issn=0145-2096}}
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 195218 FebruaryGreece and Turkey officially become members of NATO.{{Cite web |date=2011-12-08 |title=Greece and Turkey join NATO (London, 22 October 1951) |url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/greece_and_turkey_join_nato_london_22_october_1951-en-c193a825-2f1c-4e12-b26d-d35fabc6559f.html |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=CVCE.EU by UNI.LU |language=en}}
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 195328 FebruaryThe Balkan Pact between Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia is enacted.{{Cite journal |last=S.-E. |first=B. |date=1953 |title=Athens, Ankara, and Belgrade: Implications of the Balkan Pact |journal=The World Today |volume=9 |issue=7 |page=287 |jstor=40392639 |issn=0043-9134}}
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 19556–7 September| The Istanbul pogrom, in which the Greek population of Istanbul were targeted, occurs.
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 196321 December| Bloody Christmas (1963){{Cite book |title=The walls between conflict and peace |date=2017 |editor=Alberto Gasparini |isbn=978-90-04-27285-9 |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |page=207 |oclc=963231226}}{{Cite news |last=Hazou |first=Elias |date=2013-12-22 |title=1963 is still a historical minefield |newspaper=Cyprus Mail |url=https://cyprus-mail.com/2013/12/22/1963-is-still-a-historical-minefield/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220606064515/https://cyprus-mail.com/2013/12/22/1963-is-still-a-historical-minefield/ |archive-date=2022-06-06 |access-date=2022-06-06 |language=en-GB}}
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 1964| Turkish prime minister İsmet İnönü renounces the Greco-Turkish Treaty of Friendship of 1930 and took actions against the Greek minority.
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 1971| Halki Theological College, the higher education component of Halki seminary and the only school where the Greek minority in Turkey educated its clergymen, is closed by Turkish authorities. All private, religious or academic, Muslim and non Muslim, are closed that year.{{Cite journal |last1=TOKTAS |first1=SULE |last2=ARAS |first2=BULENT |date=2009 |title=The EU and Minority Rights in Turkey |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=124 |issue=4 |page=703 |doi=10.1002/j.1538-165X.2009.tb00664.x |jstor=25655744 |issn=0032-3195}}
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 1971-74| Oil is discovered in the north Aegean near the Greek island Thasos.{{Cite book |last1=Proedrou |first1=P. |last2=Sidiropoulos |first2=T. |date=1992 |chapter=Prinos Field – Greece Aegean Basin |title=TR: Structural Traps VI |url=http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/fieldst3/data/a020/a020/0001/0250/0275.htm |url-access=subscription |language=en-US |volume=20 |pages=275–291}} It is the first major discovery since exploration started in the mid-1960s.{{Cite news |last=Clyde H. Farnsworth Special to The New York Times |date=1974-07-23 |title=Greek-Turkish Oil-Field Dispute In Aegean Remains Unresolved |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/23/archives/greekturkish-oilfield-dispute-in-aegean-remains-unresolved.html |access-date=2022-04-29 |issn=0362-4331}}
rowspan="2" valign="top" | 197415 July| The Greek Junta sponsors the 1974 Cypriot coup d'état{{Cite journal |last=Papadimitriu |first=Georgios |date=1975 |title=THE CYPRUS – CRISIS OF 1974 BEFORE THE UNITED NATIONS. A DOCUMENTATION |journal=Verfassung und Recht in Übersee / Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=73–78 |doi=10.5771/0506-7286-1975-1-73 |jstor=43108435 |issn=0506-7286|doi-access=free }}
20 July – 18 August| Turkey invades Cyprus.
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 198727–30 March1987 Aegean crisis{{Cite book |title=Analyzing foreign policy crises in Turkey: conceptual, theoretical and practical discussions |date=2017 |editor=Fuat Aksu |editor2=Helin Sarı Ertem |isbn=978-1-4438-9173-8 |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |publisher=Cambridge Scholars |page=74 |oclc=987252492}}
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 19947 March| The Greek government declares May 19 as a day of remembrance of the (1914–1923) Genocide of Pontic Greeks.{{cite book | last = Bölükbasi | first = Deniz | title = Turkey and Greece: The Aegean Disputes | publisher = Routledge-Cavendish | date = 2004-05-17 | page = 62 | isbn = 0-275-96533-3 }}
rowspan="2" valign="top" | 199521 JulyGreece ratifies the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea {{Citation |last=Strati |first=Anastasia |title=Greece and the Law of the Sea: A Greek Perspective |date=2000 |work=The Aegean Sea after the Cold War: Security and Law of the Sea Issues |pages=89–102 |editor-last=Chircop |editor-first=Aldo |place=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-137-08879-6_7 |isbn=978-1-137-08879-6 |editor2-last=Gerolymatos |editor2-first=André |editor3-last=Iatrides |editor3-first=John O.}} Turkey says the exercise of this treaty, if Greece expands its territorial waters to 12 nm, would be casus belli.{{Cite book |last=publisher |first=International Crisis Group |title=Turkey-Greece: from maritime brinkmanship to dialogue |oclc=1255218774}}
26 DecemberImia-Kardak crisis
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 19975 JanuaryCyprus Missile Crisis
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 1999| Abdullah Öcalan (Kurdish rebel leader), leaving the Greek embassy, is captured in Kenya and causes a crisis{{Cite web |title=Washingtonpost.com: Three Greek Cabinet Ministers Resign Over Ocalan Affair |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/daily/feb99/greece021899.htm |access-date=2022-06-06 |website=www.washingtonpost.com}}
rowspan="1" valign="top" | 200114 September| The Greek government declares September 14 as a day of remembrance of the Genocide of the Hellenes of Asia Minor by the Turkish state.

See also

Notes

{{reflist|group=nb}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • {{cite book |editor=Aydin, Mustafa |editor2=Kostas Ifantis |title=Turkish-Greek Relations: Escaping from the Security Dilemma in the Aegean |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-203-50191-7}}
  • {{cite book |author=Bahcheli, Tozun |title=Greek-Turkish Relations Since 1955 |publisher=Westview Press |year=1987 |isbn=0-8133-7235-6}}
  • {{cite book |author=Brewer, David |title=The Greek War of Independence: The Struggle for Freedom from the Ottoman Oppression and the Birth of the Modern Greek Nation |publisher=Overlook Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-84511-504-3}}
  • {{cite book |editor=Keridis, Dimitris |display-editors=etal |title=Greek-Turkish Relations: In the Era of Globalization |publisher=Brassey's Inc. |year=2001 |isbn=1-57488-312-7}}
  • {{cite book |author=Ker-Lindsay, James|title=Crisis and Conciliation: A Year of Rapprochement between Greece and Turkey |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-84511-504-3}}
  • {{cite book |author=Kinross, Patrick|title=Atatürk: The Rebirth of a Nation |publisher=Phoenix Press |year=2003 |isbn=1-84212-599-0}}
  • {{cite book |author=Smith, Michael L.|title=Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor, 1919–1922 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=1999 |isbn=0-472-08569-7}}