Ankara is reviewing Greek-Turkish relations within a broader geopolitical context, at a time when it is taking steps to normalize relations with the United States and strengthen its regional role. In this context, Turkey sees the formation of a "front" in the Eastern Mediterranean, which it perceives as an attempt to contain it and impose strategic constraints.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis revealed in an interview with SKAI that his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to take place before February 15, although with low expectations. According to Athens, the main objective is to maintain communication channels, at a time when, in addition to bilateral disputes, sensitive regional issues where the interests of the two countries diverge have also been added to the agenda.
Athens emphasizes that there is no sign of a change in the Turkish position on the fundamental issue of the delimitation of the continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone. At the same time, Turkey's exclusion from European security initiatives, the lack of progress in improving the Turkey-EU Customs Union and the trilateral cooperation between Greece-Cyprus-Israel further aggravate the climate, as they affect key strategic choices for Ankara. Despite the tensions, the Greek side has registered Ankara's message that it wants to address issues with Greece bilaterally, without the mediation of third parties. Mitsotakis was clear that Athens and Ankara do not need an arbitrator to discuss the issues that divide them, underlining the independence of bilateral relations.
An additional source of concern for Turkey remains the close strategic and military cooperation between Greece, Cyprus and Israel, which has also deepened during the war in Gaza, through the supply of advanced weapons systems that increase the preventive capabilities of Athens and Nicosia. Ankara sees this cooperation, as well as the 3+1 scheme with the participation of the US, as a threat to regional balances and NATO cohesion.
In this context, Turkey continues to use the issuance of NAVTEXs and NOTAMs to promote its claims in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, a practice that Athens considers abusive and illegal, endangering the safety of navigation and aviation. The Greek Prime Minister stressed that Greece will not seek permission to exercise its sovereign rights. The expected Mitsotakis-Erdogan meeting thus takes place in a charged climate, where efforts at dialogue coexist with deep strategic disagreements, regional rivalries and growing concerns about the security balance in the Eastern Mediterranean and within NATO.
