Why Turkey-Greece islands confrontation is more than it seems
Turkey sees a chance to offset its withering hope of being invited to join the European Union by working on relationships elsewhere.
This week's revival, after two decades, of the Kardak rivalry between Turkey and Greece is less about those countries' relationship and more about Turkey thumbing its nose at the European Union.
Turkish citizens younger than 20 or even 30 years of age don't have a clue what Kardak is. But middle-aged and older Turks know that Kardak was the last serious crisis that almost brought Turkey and Greece to the brink of war. That was at the end of January 1996.
