Turkish President Erdogan visits Greece
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will arrive in Athens today to hold high-level talks with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Today, the leaders are set to discuss an array of hot button issues such as maritime zones and refugee flows. Hostile relations between Athens and Ankara appear to be turning for the better in recent months. Greek aid to southern Turkey following the devastating earthquake in February built some good will, which this meeting aims to foster.
Ankara and Athens will almost certainly make progress in the short-to-medium term on illegal migration. The NATO neighbors will likely agree to take cooperative measures to limit migration flow to Greece via Turkey. Such measures will likely permit the stationing of the Greek coast guard in Turkish coastal cities, which experience high levels of illegal migration year-round. With that being said, the dispute on maritime borders and exclusive economic zones will likely remain unresolved. This is due to conflicting interests in the Aegean sea region which is rich in natural gas deposits. Moving forward, Ankara will likely continue to reject the terms of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which declares a legal continental shelf around the Greek islands.
