tagged: Aegean Greece Turkey, Ahmet Davutoglu, Dimitris Droutsas, miles 12 dispute, Mundobasket, National Security Document

Turkish FM Davutoglu: No unilateral moves towards Greece

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Turkey-GR

Turkish press recent reports about Ankara’s removing  Greece from its “threat list” and lifting the casus belli  were a surprise to those, who know how Turkish diplomacy functions. First, Ankara’s diplomacy is determinately based on reciprocity and secondly it does not change without a  green light from the army. Consensus is a must. OK,  the generals may have more “votes” than the diplomats… Anyway these “radical changes” in Turkey’s National Security Document, as leaked to the press,  were simply too good – or maybe: too questionable? – to be true.

Now, Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s leading diplomat, comes a week later and clarifies the issue: Turkey expects Greece to give up its claims on disputed Aegean Sea territory in return for Ankara’s changing its national security policy to remove the Aegean neighbor from its threat list. It couldn’t be said more clearly!

In an interview to private NTV Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said :“Turkey will not take a unilateral step on the 12 miles issue”.  

According to HurriyetDailyNews,  Davutoglu said further that Turkey expects Greece to retract the decision made by its parliament over its claims on the Aegean Sea, a stance about which he said the Turkish government and military are in agreement. “We implement one foreign policy, not two,” Davutoğlu said.

Sure. The leaking information to the press was just to test reactions from the military and then proceed accordingly.

The changes to the Turkish National Security Document, also known as the “secret constitution” or “red bible” is seen as an outcome of the “zero problems with neighbors” foreign policy championed by Davutoğlu, Turkish media report.

Tonight Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu will sit next toDimitris Droutsas, alternate Greek FM, on the VIP benches of  Ankara Arena to watch the basketball match Greece against Turkey.  They can chat about it in the breaks.