Turkish-Greek talks, all talk?
Greece and Turkey will hold explanatory talks for the first time in years following the tensions that peaked last year between the regional rivals, although the two parties have yet to agree on the issues to be discussed.
Greece and Turkey will sit down for exploratory talks on Jan. 25 in Istanbul for the first time since March 2016. After the high tensions of last year and being nudged to discussions by the European Union and the United States, the two historic rivals both seem to believe they benefit from the optics of talks.
“In the short term, both Greece and Turkey are content with the process unfolding in this format,” Kostas Ifantis, former director for research at the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and professor of international relations at Panteion University in Athens, told Al-Monitor.
The technical, pre-negotiation talks are a chance for both countries to consolidate what they believe to be their gains and showcase to outside powers their good faith, even if they can’t agree on what to discuss.
“The Greeks say the agenda is just the maritime zone; the Turks say it’s everything. But neither side says the other is wrong,” said Sotiris Roussos, a former senior Middle East expert at the Greek Foreign Ministry and head of the Center for Middle East, Mediterranean and Islamic Studies.
