Strife between nations throughout history, differences in religious beliefs, territorial disputes and the Cyprus issue are all crucial factors that have long been reasons for tensions between Greece and Turkey. In recent years, as disputes between regional countries over gas and oil resources in the eastern Mediterranean have intensified, Turkey's extended gas exploration missions in the region since August this year have once again triggered tensions between Turkey and Greece, and further complicated the situation in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean.
The webinar "Turkey and Greece from the Perspective of the Mediterranean Area," convened by PKU's Institute of Area Studies and organized by PKU's Turkish Studies Center and Greek Studies Center, took place on September 29. Nine scholars and experts in relevant fields of studies at Peking University, Renmin University of China, Capital Normal University, Communication University of China, Beijing Foreign Studies University and China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations attended the webinar.
Zan Tao, deputy director of PKUIAS and director of PKU's Turkish Studies Center, moderated the workshop. He said that, as a new regional hotspot issue, Turkish–Greek relations have attracted much attention. There have been many discussions on the root cause and impact of the conflicts between the two countries. But they mostly focused on the perspectives of international relations and geopolitics, and lacked historical and civilization depth. To this end, the workshop invited scholars from multiple fields spanning history, politics and law, to jointly discuss Turkish–Greek relations from different perspectives, in the expectation of providing a forum for interdisciplinary dialogue from the aspects of world civilization history, world order and international rules, and deepening our multidimensional understanding of the relationship between the two nation-states.
Prof. Chen Xiaoxu from Renmin University of China, gave a presentation on the close population, cultural exchanges and regime changes between Greece and Asia Minor in prehistoric and ancient times. Since prehistoric times, Asia Minor has had continuous and frequent close contacts and exchanges with Greece. The geographical proximity of Greece and Asia Minor has resulted in the integration of the culture and politics of the two, while the separation by the sea has caused political conflicts between them, Chen said.
Zhang Xingang, assistant professor from PKU's Department of History, discussed the national strategies of Greece and Turkey from the perspective of the conflict between Eastern and Western civilizations since the time of ancient Greece. With its huge population, stable political organization, and a structure based on Westernized economic development, Turkey has been striving to build its geopolitics centered on Turkic identity. Whether Turkey's rise means that it is becoming the shoulder of Islamic civilization is a phenomenon worthy of long-term observation. Some struggles regarding interests in the eastern Mediterranean may be temporary. What is of concern is what kind of changes will occur throughout Europe and Turkey in civilizational development in the next three to five decades or an even longer term, Zhang said.
Li Jianjun, an associate research fellow in the History Department of Capital Normal University, analyzed the dispute between Greece and Turkey from the perspective of East and West. She pointed out that Greece used to have a close relationship with the East in historical times, but is now a member of the Western camp and has received strong support from the EU. Turkey's national authoritarian system as well as its ethnic and religious history are characteristic of the East, but its special geographical location determines that there is great uncertainty in the country’s positioning. As the only way for immigrants and refugees from North Africa and the Middle East to get to Europe, Turkey has come to ambiguously feature both “East and West,” thus becoming a factor that the West must treat with caution. The confrontation between Greece and Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean is the result of the evolution of the roles of Greece and Turkey in the East and West. It is not advisable to isolate Turkey, nor is it advisable for Turkey to continue to provoke. It is wise for the two sides to negotiate through intermediary dialogue. As long as Turkey's "Blue Homeland" doctrine remains unchanged, even if the maritime dispute between Turkey and Greece is temporarily resolved, it will crop up again in the future, Li said.
Liao Baizhi, deputy director of the Middle East Institute of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, analyzed the reasons for the conflict between Turkey and Greece. He said that the recent disputes between the two sides were the result of multiple contradictions. First, the dispute over oil and gas resources was the most direct cause. Secondly, historical issues have been an important factor leading to disputes. Third, geopolitical differences triggered opposing camps. The involvement of major countries and organizations such as the US, the EU, and Russia further exacerbated the complexity of the contradiction. Therefore, the Greek–Turkish dispute will continue in the short term, core differences between them will be difficult to resolve, and the risk of military friction will continue to exist, Liao said.
Liao Xuexia, a postdoctoral fellow at Peking University Law School, analyzed the dispute between Greece and Turkey from the perspective of international law and the standpoint of both parties in international law. Whether the content of the scope of the rights of coastal states in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is applicable to Turkey is the fundamental issue for judging the content of the maritime rights of Greece and Turkey. The specific positions of the two countries on these rights are far apart, which has made the Aegean dispute difficult to resolve for a long time. Liao Xuexia expressed her belief that, due to Turkey's opposition, it is unlikely that the dispute between the two countries will be resolved through legal means. The UN General Assembly or Security Council may play an effective role. International law is part of the political reality of Greece and Turkey. The two countries are obliged to abide by international law. Even if the rules of international law are violated in practice, international law will serve as the standard for mutual evaluation and self-evaluation between them, as well as the standard for third countries and international organizations to evaluate the behavior of the two countries, Liao said.
Elena Avramidou from PKU's Greek Studies Center expressed her belief that, after the recent discovery of gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean, tensions between Greece and Turkey escalated and there was a danger of conflict. In view of the intervention and different interest considerations of other countries (Cyprus, France, Libya, Egypt, UAE, the US) and organizations (EU and NATO), Turkey's revisionist hardline foreign policy in the eastern Mediterranean has made its relations with Greece more tense and the situation more complicated and difficult, Avramidou said.
Qian Yingchao, a research fellow at the Greek Studies Center of Beijing Foreign Studies University, analyzed the relationship between Greece and Turkey from the perspective of the energy game. She said that the energy issue in the eastern Mediterranean was inseparable from the Cyprus issue and the dispute over Greek–Turkish territorial waters. Greece has striven to safeguard its own interests and the interests of Cyprus's eastern Mediterranean energy issues, and has relied on the EU to draw some major powers to exert pressure on Turkey. The traditional historical relationship between Turkey and Cyprus has been poor, and diplomatic relations have not been established so far. The development of offshore oil and gas resources in Cyprus has seriously damaged the interests of the Turkish people in Northern Cyprus, and affected the energy corridor plan built by Turkey, leading to the hardline attitude of Turkish officials. The EU is mediating the conflict between Greece and Turkey possibly out of consideration to not exacerbate the refugee issue, trying to get the two countries back to the negotiating table, Qian said.
Chen Yingxue, director of PKU's Greek Studies Center, analyzed Western European thought affecting Greek national identity: Hellenism and pro-Hellenism. He pointed out that, starting from the compilation of Greek textbooks in the 19th century, the writing style of the textbooks in this period showed obvious Hellenism, which strengthened a false national pride and self-confidence in the Greeks. This unrealistic national self-confidence in turn has had a negative impact on Greece's national governance. The problems of Turkey's social and economic backwardness, backward science and technology, and low administrative efficiency described in the Greek textbooks actually existed in Greek society of the same period. But the Greek politicians catered to the national sentiment of their own nation, and avoided mentioning these issues. The most typical catastrophic consequence was the fiasco of Greece in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, which prompted the Greeks to recognize the reality, Chen said.
Gong Yingyuan, a lecturer from Communication University of China, took the reports of the Turkish official news agency Anadolu News Agency as a research object in the month prior to sort out the Turkish government's position and propositions on the eastern Mediterranean issue and, specifically, tried to rationalize its behavior. Through a relatively rich source of domestic and foreign news, the news agency actively tried to shape a government image that would gain public support. However, what it reflected was that the Turkish government was stretched too thin. With the intervention of international forces, it was more likely that the eastern Mediterranean issue would eventually return as an item on the negotiating table. Judging from historical experience, it would be difficult for the eastern Mediterranean issue to make substantial progress without Western intervention. The ultimate solution to the eastern Mediterranean issue would be based on the redistribution of the interests of multiple parties, Gong said.
At the conclusion of the workshop, the audience members interacted with the experts and scholars on topics including the historical impact of immigration issues on the national identity of Turks and Greeks, the bottom line and appeals of Greece and Turkey on related disputes, and so on. At the closing ceremony, Prof. Zan Tao stated that although the Greek-Turkish issue had not yet developed into a global issue, this issue would surely lead to constant thinking on different historical concepts, the relationship between Eastern and Western civilizations, the heritage of empire and geopolitics in the Mediterranean region, the entanglement of international issues and domestic politics, and the impact of major epidemics on world history considering the special importance of the Mediterranean region in world history, Zan said.
