Greek Foreign Policy : The Case Study of Greco-Turkish Relations under the two consecutive Kostas Simitis Premierships (1996-2000) and (2000-2004)

Sammanfattning: The relations between Greece and Turkey have developed at an unprecedented level in recent years. Behind this development lay certain factors notably the Simitis Governments’ strategy of redefining the parameters of Greek national interests in foreign policy and the Turkish Governments’ subsequent positive responses to this favorable atmosphere. It is thus possible to use the term ‘détente’ to refer to the period which dates back to 1996, the rise of Simitis to the Greek premiership. Some observers on Greco-Turkish Relations tend to trace the origins of Greco-Turkish détente to the devastating 17 August earthquake in Turkey. Some others try to find the origin of détente in the 1999 Helsinki Summit where Turkey was offered the candidacy status for the EU membership. This thesis proposes an alternative approach by defending the view that the rise of Simitis to the prime ministry itself heralded the chain of events which would later pave the road to the relaxation of Greco-Turkish Relations. This thesis is a modest attempt to understand the anatomy of Simitis Leadership and its reflections on Greco-Turkish Relations. On the basis of certain turning points in a chronological fashion, it will uncover the background of an eight-year ruling term with its ups and downs. There is an irony in Greco-Turkish Relations: Outbreak of crises between the two neighbors led both the Greek and the Turkish political actors to re-examine their attitude in the following phase of their relationship. In the Simitis Era, the tensions created opportunities for building up networks of cooperation initiatives to a certain extent. I also argue here that spillover logic in Greco-Turkish Relations has started working- albeit cautiously- and that this spirit could be sustainable if managed by both sides wisely. Continuation of the Greco-Turkish détente even after the governmental change in Athens in April 2004 demonstrates that the Simitis Leadership has determined a new framework for Greco- Turkish Relations. This framework has been set through pushing Turkey to the future EU membership orientation and setting mechanisms of reward/punishment (or carrot/stick) policy on Turkey’s route to Brussels through the EU.