Greece's Strategy and Perceptions Towards Turkey: the End of Consensus and the Return of History?

Abstract

The paper focuses on the impact of the crisis on the Greek public debate on perception of and strategy towards Turkey. The analysis is placed in the context of a strategic consensus that was ruptured during the crisis and the lack of bipartisanship on the country's security preferences. Although Athens and Ankara have enjoyed an unusually long period of calm waters in the Aegean from 1999 to 2016 the last two years have produced the familiar aggressive rhetoric and mutual mistrust. With the bilateral issues intact the traditional inertia on both sides can easily turn into heightened tensions with the risk of miscalculation given the proximity of military hardware being hardly insignificant. The paper also presents some of the findings of a research conducted by the two guest editors of this special issue on the Greek elites' perceptions of Turkey in the midst of the crisis.