Turkey’s foreign minister has accused Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias of adopting hawkish policies that trip up any efforts from Athens to improve relations with Ankara.
Hakan Fidan made the comments in an interview ahead of Wednesday’s scheduled meeting in Ankara between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Fidan told Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper that he “sincerely believes” both Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis “have the intention and the ability” to overcome disputes between the two regional rivals. Asked by the interviewer about Dendias – whom Turkish officials have repeatedly accused of preventing rapprochement – Fidan said:
“There is him, there is the audience he appeals to, there are other people apart from him, so this political mood and competition unfortunately do not create an atmosphere that would help solve such strategic problems in Greek politics.”
“The leaders who come [to Turkey] face a constant dilemma between solving this historic problem and the political cost [it would engender],” he added. “We have presented them with very creative solutions.”
Greece and Turkey are at odds over issues including Aegean Sea exploration rights. The two countries, while NATO allies, have come close to war three times since the 1970s.