Greece | First visit by Turkish president in decades off to tense start

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reviews the Presidential Guard with Greece’s President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, during the welcome ceremony in Athens yesterday

The first official visit by a Turkish president to Greece for six decades got off to a tense start yesterday, with Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeating comments that have alarmed his Greek hosts about the need to “update” the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne that delineated the borders of modern Turkey, among other issues.

Erdogan’s first meeting was with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, and the televised discussions between the two men, usually reserved for pleasantries and formalities before closed-door talks, were visibly awkward.

The presidents engaged in a thinly-veiled verbal spat over the Muslim minority in northeastern Greece and the treaty. Pavlopoulos, whose role is mainly ceremonial, reminded Erdogan that unlike his visitor, he was not head of government and therefore did not have the same powers as Erdogan.

Erdogan’s two-day visit to Greece will include a trip to northeastern Greece today to meet with the country’s Muslim minority. The status of the community, which Greece recognizes only as a religious minority, was also determined by the Treaty of Lausanne. Turkey considers it to be a Turkish minority.

On the eve of his arrival, Erdogan alarmed Greek officials by saying in an interview with Greece’s Skai television that the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which determined current Greek-Turkish borders among other issues, should be “updated.”

“In fact, all agreements (pacts) in the world should be updated with the passage of time,” Erdogan said in the interview. “Lausanne too, in the face of all these developments, is in need of an update. This update would be beneficial not only for Turkey but also for Greece.”

Erdogan has made similar comments in the past about the peace treaty, which set the borders of modern Turkey, but his repetition on the eve of his Greek visit alarmed his hosts.

His comments “raises serious concerns and questions,” Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said in a statement. “The Greek government and the prime minister want his visit to be a reason to build bridges, not to raise walls.”

Respecting the treaty is “the exclusive and non-negotiable foundation on which the honest cooperation of the two countries can be built,” Tzanakopoulos said. “Comments regarding its revision do not contribute to the climate we are trying to build in our relations and in the region.”

But Erdogan reiterated his views on the historic treaty during his meeting with Pavlopoulos.

“This happened in Lausanne, that happened in Lausanne. I get that, but let’s now quickly do what is necessary,” he told the Greek president. “It’s not easy, 94 years have passed, and many things have changed in 94 years. If we review these, I believe that all the sides will agree that so many things have to [change.]”

For his part, Pavlopoulos told Erdogan the treaty “doesn’t need revision or updating. It is valid as is.” He added the treaty didn’t allow space for territorial disputes and clearly set the status for the Muslim minority in Greece.

“It is clear that to achieve our goals and to make this visit a historic one […] as Greece is a member of the EU […] this requires the full respect of international law,” Pavlopoulos said.

After his initial meeting, Erdogan headed to a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for more substantial talks.

The refugee crisis will be high on the agenda of talks, as Greek islands have been the gateway into Europe for migrants crossing from the Turkish coast. Regional relations, energy and business ties, Turkey’s stalled bid to join the European Union and longstanding disputes such as Turkey’s territorial claims in the Greek Aegean will also be discussed.

One of the current thorny issues to be raised will be the case of eight Turkish servicemen who have requested asylum in Greece following last year’s failed coup in Turkey. Ankara has demanded their extradition, a request rejected by Greek courts on the grounds they could not be guaranteed a fair trial in Turkey.

The move infuriated Erdogan, who said in his Wednesday interview that his country’s judicial system is “the best in Europe,” adding the servicemen should have been handed over before Greek courts became involved.

“If you leave it up to the judiciary there will be no result,” he said. “In order to facilitate the work of the judiciary you must first, as the government, take the necessary measures before you assign it to the judiciary.”

Erdogan’s visit comes as his country finds itself increasingly isolated on the international stage.

Turkey’s ties with the EU and several European countries deteriorated significantly following Erdogan’s post-coup crackdown. Tens of thousands of Turks have been fired from their jobs, and tens of thousands more have been imprisoned on accusations of being linked, however tenuously, with Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based Islamic cleric Erdogan blames for masterminding the coup.

Other than Greece, Poland is the only other EU country to have invited Erdogan to visit since mid-2016.

Historical tensions between Greece and Turkey, which have brought the two to the brink of war three times since the 1970s, remain. Decades-old thorny issues include territorial disputes in the Aegean, the Muslim minority and the continued occupation by Turkish troops of northern Cyprus. Elena Becatoros, Athens, AP