Foreign relations of Greece
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Prominent issues in Greek foreign policy include the enduring Cyprus problem, Greek-Turkish differences over the Aegean, a dispute over the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and relations with the United States.
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[edit] Relations by Country
[edit] Turkey
- See also: Greco-Turkish relations
Greece and Turkey carried out a population exchange in the 1920s in an attempt to reduce tensions between the two countries. It was not a complete exchange of minorities, as significant Greek communities remained in Constantinople and Muslim communities stayed in Western Thrace. Nevertheless, the strategy worked, and the two sides enjoyed good relations and cooperation in the 1930s. They began to deteriorate in the mid-1950s, however, mainly because of Cyprus. Relations have been steadily improving again since the turn of the century.
The 1950s were marked by the actions of EOKA, a Cypriot nationalist group fighting the British colonial government and demanding a unification of Cyprus with Greece (enosis). There have been claims that EOKA was also targeting the Turkish Cypriot community.
[edit] Cyprus Dispute
- See also: Cyprus dispute
In 1960, Some members of EOKA were indignant over the fact that enosis was not granted, and formed EOKA-B to instigate a coup against President of Cyprus Makarios III. The July 15, 1974 coup was supported by the Greek military junta in Athens. Turkey reacted with a military invasion that helped bring about the fall of the Greek military dictatorship. It also led to the de facto division of Cyprus. The atrocities instigated by both Greek and Turkish Cypriots on the island led to the abolition of the military junta and the restitution of democracy in Greece.
The Turkish government has claimed that the invasion was justified by the guarantorship agreement between Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom. EOKA and EOKA-B no longer exist, but Turkish troops remain on the island, and a separate state was proclaimed in 1975 under the name Turkish Federated State of Northern Cyprus. The name was changed to Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on November 15, 1983. This self proclaimed state is not a UN member and is not recognized by any nation except Turkey. Azerbaijan maintains unofficial relations with the "TRNC" but has not officially recognized it except for a resolution from a subnational legislative body.[dubious ] Since then, Greece has strongly supported Greek Cypriot efforts, calling for the removal of Turkish troops and the restoration of a unified state. The Republic of Cyprus has received strong support from Greece in international forums. Greece has a military contingent on Cyprus, and Greek officers fill some key positions in the Greek Cypriot National Guard, as permitted by the constitution of Cyprus. The United Nations proclaimed the northern part of the island as occupied territory and the Republic of Cyprus has not changed its inaugural constitution: it always considers northern Cypriots as citizens of the Republic and grants them the privileges of southern Cypriots.
[edit] Aegean Dispute
- See also: Aegean dispute
Other issues dividing Greece and Turkey involve the delimitation of the continental shelf in the Aegean Sea, territorial waters and airspace, and the condition of the Greek minority in Turkey and the Muslim minority in Greece. Greek and Turkish officials held meetings in the 1970s to discuss differences on Aegean questions, but Greece discontinued these discussions in the fall of 1981. In 1983, Greece and Turkey held talks on trade and tourism, but these were suspended by Greece when Turkey recognized the illegal Turkish Cypriot declaration of an independent state in Northern Cyprus in November 1983.
After a dangerous dispute in the Aegean in March 1987 concerning oil drilling rights, the Prime Ministers of Greece and Turkey exchanged messages exploring the possibility of resolving the dispute over the continental shelf. Greece wanted the dispute to be decided by the International Court of Justice. Turkey preferred bilateral political discussions. In early 1988, the Turkish and Greek Prime Ministers met at Davos, Switzerland, and later in Brussels. They agreed on various measures to reduce bilateral tensions and to encourage cooperation. New tensions over the Aegean Sea surfaced in November 1994, precipitated by Greece's claims that the Law of the Sea Treaty states that it reserved the right to declare a 12 nautical mile (22 km) territorial sea boundary around its Aegean islands as permitted by the treaty. Turkey stated that it would consider any such action a cause for war. New technical-level bilateral discussions began in 1994 but soon fizzled-out.
In January 1996, Greece and Turkey came close to an armed confrontation over the question of which country had sovereignty over an islet in the Aegean. In July 1997, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid, Greek and Turkish leaders reached agreement on six principles to govern their bilateral relations. Within a few months, however, the two countries were again at odds over Aegean airspace and sovereignty issues. Tensions remained high for months, although various confidence-building measures were discussed to reduce the risk of military accidents or conflict in the Aegean, under the auspices of the NATO Secretary General.
Relations between the two countries began to improve steadily since a devastating earthquake in Kocaeli on August 17, 1999. Greece was among the first countries to send aid and rescue teams to the region, and Turkey returned the gesture when a smaller earthquake shook Athens later that year. Since then, Greece has come out in support of Turkey's bid for EU membership, and there has been greatly increased co-operation between the two countries to resolve the Cyprus dispute.
On May 6, 2004, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan became the first Turkish premier to visit Greece in sixteen years. Two days later, he became the first PM in 52 years to visit the Greek Muslim minority in Western Thrace, a community which has been at the centre of rifts between Greece and Turkey for decades. He said, "I'm specially addressing my brothers. You will, without doubt, protect your special identity. Nobody is telling you to lose or give up your Turkish identity. But don't forget you are citizens of Greece." His words were a clear indication of how much relations had improved, though the implications of the characterization of the Muslim minority as a "Turkish" are potentially perplexing.
[edit] Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
- See also: Macedonia naming dispute
Greek refusal to recognize the Republic of Macedonia under that name has been an important issue in Greek politics since 1992. Greece was adamantly opposed to the use of the name "Macedonia" by the government in Skopje, claiming that the name is intrinsically Greek and should not be used by a foreign country.
Furthermore, Greece believes that a state under the name "Macedonia" or "Republic of Macedonia" without any qualifications, bordering the Greek region of Macedonia may harbour irredentist ambitions against Greece. The dispute led to a Greek trade embargo against the Republic of Macedonia in February 1994. Mediation efforts by the UN, U.S., and EU brokered an interim solution to some of these differences in September 1995, leading to the lifting of the Greek embargo.
The republic agreed to be recognised internationally under the name "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (FYROM) while retaining "Republic of Macedonia" as its constitutional name, as well as changing aspects of its national symbols and constitution to address Greek concerns that they laid claim to Greek cultural symbols and territory.
Since the signing of these interim accords, the two governments have concluded agreements designed to facilitate the movement of people and goods across their common border and improve bilateral relations. Talks on remaining issues are still being held under UN auspices in New York.
Greece's stance on the naming issue has come under increasing pressure in recent years. An increasing number of countries have abandoned the Greek position and recognised the country as the "Republic of Macedonia" instead. These include three of the five permanent UN Security Council members: the United States, Russia, and the People's Republic of China. It should be noted though that compromise name is always used in relations when states not recognizing the constitutional name are parties. This is because the UN only refers to the country only as FYROM, although all UN member-states (and the UN as a whole) have agreed to accept any final agreement resulting from negotiations between the two countries.
In the spring of 2004, the Republic of Macedonia substituted its army on the Greek border with police patrols, as part of its general border demilitarization framework. Greece is the biggest foreign investor in the Republic of Macedonia, having invested a total of more than 460 million euros.
In the long term, Greece strongly supports the Republic of Macedonia's integration into NATO and the European Union, as a part of the long-term process of integration of the majority of Balkan states into the EU. However, as of 2008, there is considerable discussion concerning whether Greece should veto FYROM's application to join NATO until the name dispute is resolved. Relations between the two states therefore continue to be strained.
[edit] Albania
Greece restored diplomatic relations with Albania in 1971, but the Greek government retained a cease-fire and did not formally lift the state of war, declared during WWII, until 1987. After the fall of the Albanian socialist regime in 1991, relations between Athens and Tirana became increasingly strained because of widespread allegations of mistreatment by Albanian authorities of the Greek ethnic minority in Northern Epirus (south part of Albania), and of the same by the Greek authorities towards alleged Albanian minorities in northern Greece [see Chameria]. A wave of Albanian illegal economic migrants to Greece exacerbated tensions. The crisis in Greek-Albanian relations reached its peak in late August of 1994, when an Albanian court sentenced five members (a sixth member was added later) of the ethnic Greek political party "Omonia" to prison terms on charges of undermining the Albanian state. This was in retaliation for the border attack. Greece responded by freezing all EU aid to Albania, and sealing its border with Albania [1]. In December 1994, however, Greece began to permit limited EU aid to Albania, while Albania released two of the Omonia defendants and reduced the sentences of the remaining four.
Today, relations between the two countries are relatively good, and, at the Albanian Government's request, about 250 Greek military personnel are stationed in Albania to assist with the training and restructuring the Albanian armed forces. There are still many Albanian workers in Greece that have not received legal papers despite promises by the Greek government, though this is due to extensive bureaucracy of the Greek state. Furthermore, many Greeks believe the large in-flux of Albanians into Greece to be responsible for the rapid rise of crime in Greece.
Greece is Albania's main foreign investor, having invested more than 400 million dollars in Albania; Albania's second largest trading partner, with Greek products accounting for some 21% of Albanian imports, and 12% of Albanian exports coming to Greece; and Albania's fourth largest donor country, having provided aid amounting to 73.8 million euros [2].
[edit] Serbia
Greeks and Serbs share a common heritage in the Eastern Orthodox Church and fought on the same side in both Balkan Wars as well as in both World Wars. This, as well as Greece's Middle Ages influence during the time of the Byzantine Empire (resulting in what has been called by some a 'Byzantine Commonwealth') has amounted to excellent relations between the two countries. During the NATO war against Serbia, Greece only agreed NATO troops to pass from Greek territory but refused to use the airports for the attacking airplanes. Greece also refused to send troops to join NATO, at the same time the Greek Team of "MSF" (Doctors Without Borders) visited Serbia without receiving the permission from "MSF". Greece's Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said while visiting Tirana: "We are extremely keen to preserve peace and stability in the region. As you know, Greece has troops within KFOR. It is our firm belief that the EU's political mission should be there in Kosovo and we will also joint that mission." According the Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs "a decision on the recognition of Kosovo['s independence] has not been made yet."[5]
[edit] Armenia
Greece was one of the first countries to recognize Armenia's independence on 21 September 1991. Both countries have an embassy in their respective capitals. Also, Greece is one of the countries that have officially recognised the Armenian Genocide.
Since the declaration of independence in Armenia the two countries have been partners within the framework of international organizations (United Nations, OSCE, Council of Europe, BSEC), whilst Greece firmly supports the community programmes aimed at further developing relations between the EU and Armenia.
Continuous visits of the highest level have shown that both countries want to continue to improve the levels of friendship and cooperation (Visit by the President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossian to Greece in 1996, visit by the President of the Hellenic Republic Costis Stephanopoulos in 1999, visit by the President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan to Greece in 2000 and 2005).
Greece is, after Russia, one of the major military partners of Armenia. Armenian officers are trained in Greek military academies, and various technical assistance is supplied by Greece. Since 2003, an Armenian platoon has been deployed in Kosovo as part of KFOR. There they operate as a part of the Greek battalion of KFOR.
[edit] United States of America
- See also: Greek-American Relations
The United States and Greece have long-standing historical, political, and cultural ties based on a common heritage, shared democratic values, and participation as Allies during World War II, the Korean conflict, and the Cold War. The U.S. is the largest foreign investor in Greece; U.S. foreign investment in Greece was about $1.5 billion in 1994.
About 3 million Americans are of Greek ancestry. Greek-Americans are an established, well-organized community in the U.S. (several notable politicians, including former Vice-President Spiro Agnew, and Senators Olympia Snowe and Paul Sarbanes are of Greek ancestry), and they help cultivate close political and cultural ties with Greece. Greece has the seventh-largest population of U.S. Social Security beneficiaries in the world.
During the Greek civil war of 1946-1949, the U.S. proclaimed the Truman Doctrine, promising assistance to governments resisting communist subjugation, and began a period of substantial financial and military aid. The U.S. has provided Greece with more than $11.1 billion in economic and security assistance since 1946. Economic programs were phased out by 1962, but military assistance has continued. In fiscal year 1995, Greece was the fourth-largest recipient of U.S. security assistance, receiving loans totaling $255.15 million in foreign military financing.
In 1953, the first defense cooperation agreement between Greece and the United States was signed, providing for the establishment and operation of American military installations on Greek territory. The current mutual defense cooperation agreement (MDCA) provides for continued U.S. military assistance to Greece and the operation by the U.S. of a major military facility at Souda Bay, Crete.
However, there is also much anti-American sentiment in Greece as a result of what critics consider to constitute "meddling" on behalf of the United States in Greece's internal affairs. The United States intervened in the Greek civil war, supporting the Monarchists against the "National Liberation Army" (ELAS), which had carried out part of the resistance during the Nazi occupation of Greece, but started attacking all non-communist resistance groups to secure post-war domination after 1942. The centrists and right-wingers won, reinstituting the constitutional parliamentary monarchy and fending off the possibility of Greece falling behind the Iron Curtain. Leftists and communists decry the United States for supporting the anti-communist Nazi Collaborators during the Greek Civil War.
Critics charge the United States with supporting the 1967-1974 military coup in Greece. The junta's officials were eager to present themselves as enjoying the full confidence of the United States government in several occasions, possibly in order to project a powerful image and discourage resistance. The older counterargument that allegations supporting orchestration of the coup by the USA have been mostly based on speculation and lack evidence has significantly weakened since the public apology of President Bill Clinton on his November 1999 visit to Greece: “When the junta took over in 1967 here, the United States allowed its interests in prosecuting the Cold War to prevail over its interests - I should say its obligation - to support democracy, which was, after all, the cause for which we fought the Cold War. It is important that we acknowledge that.”
James Becket, an American attorney sent to Greece by Amnesty International, wrote in December 1969 that "a conservative estimate would place at not less than two thousand" the number of people tortured, usually in the most gruesome of ways, often with equipment supplied by the United States.
Becket reported the following:
- Hundreds of prisoners have listened to the little speech given by Inspector Basil Lambrou, who sits behind his desk which displays the red, white, and blue clasped-hand symbol of American aid. He tries to show the prisoner the absolute futility of resistance: "You make yourself ridiculous by thinking you can do anything. The world is divided in two. There are the communists on that side and on this side the free world. The Russians and the Americans, no one else. What are we? Americans. Behind me there is the government, behind the government is NATO, behind NATO is the U.S. You can't fight us, we are Americans."
This American support for the military regime led to left-wing terrorist groups repeatedly attacking US targets, the most famous of which was 17 November, which started by killing the CIA's station chief in Athens, Richard Welch in 1975. A significant percentage of the population did not even consider these activities as terrorist as anti-American sentiment was very strong during the Metapolitefsi. This continued throughout the 1980s, with the centre-left PASOK party coming to power in 1981, with an election campaign centered on withdrawal of Greece from NATO and the European Economic Community.
In the 1990s such harsh rhetoric had ceased in political debates, with the exception of the Communist Party. Subsequent PASOK governments faced a contradiction by supporting NATO as a member state in the Kosovo war. This was a very unpopular move, leading to a sharp rise in anti-American sentiment and big demonstrations [3]. For this reason Greece only provided small naval support forces in the Adriatic sea and allowed NATO troops the use of the port of Thessaloniki.
The occupation of Iraq and the 2004 recognition of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name by the United States has only expanded the view of the United States as belligerent in the eyes of many Greeks living in Greece.
[edit] The Middle East
Greece has a special interest in the Middle East because of its geographic position and its economic and historic ties to the area. Greece cooperated with allied forces during the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War. Since 1994, Greece has signed defense cooperation agreements with Israel and Egypt. In recent years, Greek leaders have made numerous trips to the region in order to strengthen bilateral ties and encourage the Middle East Peace Process. In July 1997, December 1997, and July 1998 Greece hosted meetings of Israeli and Palestinian politicians to contribute to the peace process. Greece also maintains diplomatic relations with the General Palestinian Delegation. Greece enjoys of cordial relations with Syria.
[edit] Terms
Some terms have or used to have significant importance to Greek foreign policy:
[edit] Eastern Thrace
A name for the European part of Turkey, west of Istanbul.The region was heavily inhabited by Greek population(c.160,000) until the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923.
[edit] Northern Epirus
- See also: Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus is the historical region of what has become southern Albania where there is a Greek minority of around 100,000 according to Albanian authorities ( 300,000 according to an Albanian-based Greek organization). The government of Greece claims that this territory is inhabited mostly by Greeks, whereas the government of Albania maintains that it is Albanian territory with Greek minorities. There are villages in the south of Albania where Greek is the predominant language. There have been many small incidents between the Greek minorities and Albanian authorities over issues such as alleged interference in local southern Albanian politics by the government of Greece, the raising of the Greek flag on Albanian territory, the language taught in school, etc.; however, the issues have for the most part been non-violent.
The religion of the Greek minority is Greek Orthodox. The parents of the former CIA director George J. Tenet were Greeks from Northern Epirus.
[edit] Greater Greece
- Further information: Megali Idea, Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922), and Enosis
The Megali Idea (modern Greek: Μεγάλη Ιδέα, "Great Idea") was an irredentist concept of Greek nationalism expressing the goal of establishing a Greek state that would encompass all ethnic Greeks. The Megali Idea implied the goal of reestablishing a Greek state as ancient geographer Strabo wrote, with a Greek world extending west from Sicily, to Mikra Asia (Asia Minor) and Euxenus Pontus (Black Sea) to the east, and from Thrace, Macedonia and Epirus, north, to Crete and Cyprus to the south. It would be a nation-state with its capital in Constantinople as greek populations still lived in those territories in the beginning of 20th century.The term was invented in 1844 by Ioannis Kolettis, Prime Minister under the king Otto.
In its fullest realized form, after the provisions of the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres, "Greater Greece" encompassed modern Greece (sans the Dodecanese), Eastern Thrace and the Smyrna District in Anatolia. Furthermore, the Italian-occupied Dodecanese islands and the area of Northern Epirus (in modern Albania) were promised by the Venizelos-Tittoni Accord of 1919, along with rather vague British promises for the cession of Cyprus.
[edit] Constantinople
The Greeks refer to Istanbul with its older name of Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολη), although they also use "I Poli" (The City) colloquially. Constantinople was the capital of the Eastern (ie, Greek) half of the Roman Empire until its conquest by the Turks in 1453.
[edit] Black Sea
Black Sea (Μαύρη Θάλασσα), or Euxine Sea (Εύξεινος Πόντος), is a region heavily colonized by Greeks throughout history and used to have a heavy presence of Greek population up to the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923.Nowadays there is still Greek presence in the shores of Black Sea mainly in Mariupol, Ukraine in Crimea , Russia and Georgia despite immigration to Greece after the dissolution of Soviet Union.Today Greeks in the region are estimated to be around 215,000 according to official Greek diaspora figures.Greece is a founding member of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
[edit] International organization participation
BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, EAPC, EBRD, ECA (associate), ECE, ECLAC, EIB, EMU, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, International Maritime Organization, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, NATO, OECD, OSCE, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, WEU,WHO, WIPO, WMO.
Most recently, Greece was elected by the United Nations General Assembly to the United Nations Security Council, on 15 October 2004, as a non-permanent member for 2005 and 2006.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- BBC News Online (8 May 2004). Turkish PM visits Greek Muslims.
- Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs
[edit] References
- ^ The Greek embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is expected to open in 2007
- ^ Liaison Office in Skopje, FYROM
- ^ Greece is represented in most of the rest states by either parallel accreditation of another Greek embassy or by embassies of other European Union member states
- ^ Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- ^ "Greece will "examine" Kosovo recognition", 'B92, 20 March 2008. Link accessed on 2008-03-23.
[edit] Further reading
- Economides, Spyros (March 2005). "The Europeanisation of Greek Foreign Policy". West European Politics 28 (2): 471-491.
[edit] External links
- Greece's foreign policy, via the Greek Ministry of Foreign affairs
- Ethnic groups in Albania, via CIA - The World Factbook
- Greece's Shifting Position on Turkish Accession to the EU Before and After Helsinki (1999)
 Foreign relations of Greece |
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