Greece warily eyes Turkish intentions

File photo. [Intime News]

Athens is pursuing Ankara’s legislative inaugural underway to enact a instrumentality to codify its claims successful the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Greek officials judge the law, which is expected to beryllium voted successful aboriginal June, has the imaginable to lead, down the road, to renewed tension with Turkey, and, successful the worst lawsuit scenario, a large crisis, though they bash not prejudge that this will needfully beryllium the case.

The planned authorities will apt see a reiteration of the Turkish claims of “gray zones” of undetermined oregon disputed sovereignty successful the Aegean. Turkey, which has expounded this for decades, ne'er officially retreated from this. 

During the relaxation of tensions starting successful February 2023, the prevailing rhetoric was astir coming to an statement to adjudicate the contented of maritime zones astatine the Hague-based International Court. The existent authorities appears to beryllium a wide step backward.

A large origin successful maintaining the caller detente was the beingness of connection channels betwixt Greek and Turkish officials astatine respective levels; lately, however, adjacent the beauteous progressive transmission maintained by the two countries’ overseas ministers, George Gerapetritis and Hakan Fidan, seems to person atrophied; arsenic successive leaks from the Turkish authorities to media concerning the measure proliferated implicit the past mates of weeks, the two person not communicated.

Still, the main presumption successful Athens is that the authorities is mostly geared to a home audience, arsenic the Turkish authorities faces absorption disapproval implicit its supposed softness toward Greece. Nonetheless, the measure constitutes an further complication successful bilateral relations, particularly if an effort is made to picture areas successful the Aegean arsenic having a “special status.”

And things could get tense if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan uses the powers helium has successful the authorities to marque a provocative decision.