The visit of George Papandreou in 2011 to Turkey and his meeting with Erdogan left more questions unanswered than it resolved issues in relations between the two countries.
When Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated (in his interview with Nikos Hatzinikolaou) that he is the only Greek prime minister to have raised the issue of casus belli within Turkey, it was clear to whom he was responding.
However, PASOK, in its general petty-megalomania, felt it had to respond. And it rushed to mention George Papandreou’s visit to Erzurum in Turkey in January 2011. Asking the question: “Was the prime minister’s statement yesterday a product of arrogance, hypocrisy, or ignorance?” One wonders why, there at PASOK, in an effort to write a clean slate, they are “dredging up” the past.
According to the announcement, “History records that as early as January 2011, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou had categorically addressed the entirety of Turkish provocations and, in particular, the issue of casus belli, in the presence of Turkish President T. Erdoğan and before all the ambassadors of the neighboring country, in Erzurum.”
And it adds: “In any case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, once it has completed the restructuring due to the oversupply of undersecretaries, must protect him from similar statements in the future”!
The truth is that at the meeting of Turkish ambassadors in Erzurum (January 7, 2011), G. Papandreou did indeed raise a number of issues—with an emphasis on overflights and the Cyprus issue. “When faced with the choice between peace and conflict, we choose peace,” he had said, adding that “peaceful coexistence also has its prerequisites. Trust is hard to build, yet very easy to lose.”
In his speech, he specifically said:
“On the eve of my arrival in Turkey, eight Turkish Air Force aircraft flew over Agathonisi. Eight aircraft violated Greek sovereignty. What is Turkey trying to prove? The status of sovereignty in the Aegean will not change. If Turkey wants peace, this must stop. The threat of war has no place in bilateral relations, nor does it solve problems.”
A three-hour meeting with no minutes!
But history is not written selectively, with blank pages and no minutes.
Because for that visit to Turkey, Mr. Papandreou was accused by all parties of secret diplomacy.
And this was because, while he did deliver a fine academic-theoretical speech addressing the ambassadors and attended the opening of the Winter Universiade stadium (where everyone wore a light blue scarf), but he also had a private meeting with Tayyip Erdogan that lasted over three hours, without any minutes being taken!
We were never informed of the content of that discussion, and this was what dominated the Greek press—including the pro-government media. All parties had then issued statements demanding to know exactly what the two leaders discussed in their private meeting, highlighting the lack of transparency.
On that trip, during his speech at the opening of the Winter Universiade facilities, Mr. Papandreou had said, referring to what the Olympic Truce symbolizes:
“Last May, your prime minister and my friend, Tayyip, came to Athens and visited the Panathenaic Stadium.
And together we signed the book on the Olympic Truce.”
At the same time, he praised the role of the Turkish Prime Minister, with whom, as he said, “we have put our cooperation on a new footing and intensified our efforts to improve our relations.”
“To transform our neighborhood into a region of peace, stability, and development—that is our goal,” he emphasized, noting at the same time that Greece will stand by Turkey in its bid for the 2020 Olympic Games. As officially announced, “prior to the stadium’s opening ceremony and on the sidelines of the annual meeting of Turkish ambassadors, Mr. Papandreou had a three-hour meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
What they told us they… said!
According to diplomatic sources, the following took place:
“The meeting between the two leaders began as scheduled at 10 a.m., with only Mr. Papandreou and Mr. Erdoğan in attendance, while shortly before noon, the foreign ministers of both countries, Dimitris Droutsas and Ahmet Davutoğlu, also entered the room.
During this meeting, issues regarding Greek-Turkish relations were discussed, including Turkish overflights, while extensive reference was also made to the issue of illegal immigration (and the planned construction of a fence in Evros). Issues concerning the Aegean Sea, such as the continental shelf, etc., are the subject of ongoing exploratory talks.
Today’s meeting in Erzurum was not intended to resolve specific issues or make specific decisions, but rather to establish a framework that will advance Greek-Turkish relations, which are developing within the institutions that have been established.
One such institution is the High Council, the convening of which will be prepared by the upcoming visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to Athens in March.
Mr. Davutoğlu described the participation of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister D. Droutsas in the summit as “proof of the high level of Greek-Turkish relations.”
In statements to the “Anatolia” news agency, Mr. Davutoğlu focused on the “historic” significance of the speeches by Mr. Papandreou and Mr. Droutsas. “Turkey always responds to sincere intentions of friendship and when approached in this manner. This is our policy in the Balkans and the Middle East,” he added. Therefore, contrary to what PASOK is saying today, the meeting was not aimed at resolving specific issues.
Clarifications from Droutsas
The backlash was so intense that on January 10, 2011, speaking on SKAI TV, Dimitris Droutsas stated that there is no Greek government that does not promote Greece’s interests and its long-term goals, and he called for an end to the hypocrisy that the government of the day is theand the opposition of the day is the ultra-patriot. “This hypocrisy must stop, for the sake of Greece,” he had said.
Regarding the Papandreou-Erdoğan meeting in particular, Mr. Droutsas had stated that the main topic of discussion was illegal immigration, on which “there was an agreement for close cooperation,” as well as bilateral, regional, and international issues.
Therefore, the issue of casus belli (cause for war) was raised in a speech to the ambassadors and not to Erdogan himself.
What Mitsotakis said, however, is different:
“I must tell you that, to the best of my knowledge, I am the only Greek prime minister who went to Ankara and raised the issue of casus belli directly, politely, but I believe without backing down from Greek positions. And I told President Erdoğan clearly: It is not acceptable that, 31 years after the threat of war, you want to get closer to Europe, and for me to want, under certain conditions, to bring you closer to Europe, while at the same time you keep the threat of war open in case Greece does what? Exercise a legitimate sovereign right based on international law?” Now, what PASOK remembers and what it wants to remember is another matter…
“He raised the issue in general and vague terms”…
We recall, for example, an article (by Aliki Matsi) in “Kyriakatiki Eleftherotypia” (January 9, 2011), titled “Erzurum is far from The Hague.”
According to the article, “the possibility of appealing to the International Court of Justice in The Hague was raised again the day before yesterday from Erzurum, Turkey, by Greek Prime Minister G. Papandreou, though without setting specific timelines for resolving Greek-Turkish disputes in the Aegean and, above all, on the issue of the continental shelf. Mr. Papandreou raised the issue in general and vague terms, while his entourage clarified that the round of exploratory talks is continuing, though no one can say with certainty exactly where they will lead.
In essence, what emerges is, on the one hand, confirmation of reports that the exploratory talks have stalled at an unspecified point and, on the other hand, that there was apparently zero progress at the Erzurum meeting, something which, naturally, the Prime Minister’s inner circle denies.”
A response marked by violations and… reparations
For his part, Turkey’s then-Foreign Minister, Mr. Davutoğlu, had (January 8, 2011) stated:
“This is Greece’s well-known position. Our own views on these issues are well known, and our Prime Minister has clearly stated them. No one can impose a position on the other side, and especially not on Turkey. Our positions are mutually known. Mr. Papandreou’s messages were, in general, messages of friendship and cooperation.”
And to confirm the truth of this statement, on January 10, 2011, after the meeting concluded, we were informed that a formation of Turkish fighter jets consisting of a total of eight aircraft —four of them armed—had committed one violation and four incursions in the Central and Northern Aegean.
On the same day, Erdogan stated that Papandreou’s speech to the ambassadors “is the truth that it was not what I expected.” He added, however, that in a conversation they had later, the prime minister said that in fact he did not want his words to be interpreted that way.
“And as you saw,” he added, “he corrected himself during the press conference that followed. But what matters is not what we say, but what those who listen to us understand. There is this discrepancy that slipped past him, and it wasn’t very nice. We should strive, through what we say, not to create tension in our relations, but to mend them.”
In short, there is no Greek prime minister who has not faced Turkey’s completely negative stance. The problem, however, is that everyone—when they’re not in the thick of it—wants to play the Turk-basher!
Something they’d be wise to stop, because the old playbooks are still around—even when they’re practically nonexistent!
