Greece's watchful eye on Turkey's presidential election

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on March 13, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. AFP - MUSTAFA KAMACI

Text by: Joël Bronner Follow

2 min

If there is one country that is following the vote scheduled for this weekend in Turkey with particular attention, it is Greece. Between these two NATO members - separated by a wall that continues to grow along their land border - relations are indeed regularly shady. Despite a recent lull, border and migration issues frequently poison the atmosphere in the eastern Mediterranean, where Ankara would see itself expanding its "blue homeland".

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From our correspondent in Athens,

Greece, too, is living in the election time, since general elections will take place on 21st May. This does not prevent the Greeks from following with attention and excitement what is happening on the other side of the Aegean Sea and from wondering about the political future of its neighbour. "What kind of Turkey will emerge from the ballot box?" headlines Kathimerini, the country's leading conservative daily, which reviews "good and bad scenarios."

Faced with the apparent fragility of the outgoing president, the newspaper also wonders in a podcast: "How could Erdogan try to overturn the election and manufacture a victory?" On the opposition side, the left-wing newspaper Efsyn is worried about the consequences of an election that is taking place, according to its analysis, "in a climate of civil war".

Even if since February relations have warmed a little between Athens and Ankara, after the aid given by Greece to Turkey during the earthquake, the Greeks would certainly not take such a bad view of the departure of a Turkish president. Until a few months ago, he threatened to "suddenly appear one night", in other words to invade a Greek island.

"Turkish politics will not change overnight"

This same president recalled last December, in a tone of intimidation, that Athens was within missile range of Ankara. A president, finally, whose desire to search for hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean created in the summer of 2020 a particularly volatile situation, close to degenerating into conflict with neighboring Greece.

In the eyes of Athens, the opponent Kiliçdaroglu therefore has an obvious merit, that of appearing as more diplomatic. However, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently remained cautious on television about this election: "I have no illusions, Turkish politics will not change overnight.

The situation is therefore closely monitored because Turkey, for Greece, is a bit of a "hereditary enemy". Greece, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, wrested its independence from the Ottoman Empire of which Turkey is the heir. Greek nationalism was thus largely built against neighboring Turkey, always more or less perceived as a threat regardless of the leader at its head.

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