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30-Second Summary
Headline Link: ‘Greek Prime Minister in Turkey for First Official Visit Since 1959’
Background: 'In Turkey, a Clash of Nationalism and History'
Historical Context: 'A Greek vs. Turk 'Survivor' Just May Ease a Bitter Past'
Key Players: Costas Karamanlis and Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Analysis: Different perspectives
Related Topics: ‘Greece’s Ads in the Streets of Istanbul’
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Greek Prime Minister Makes Historic Visit to Turkey
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis makes the country’s first official visit to Turkey in 49 years. The move is a monumental step in mending the two nations' historically contentious relationship.
30-Second Summary
The government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave Karmanlis the “red-carpet treatment” upon his arrival on Jan. 23, according to Turkish daily paper Hürriyet.
The first visit of its kind in 49 years, Karamanlis’ three-day trip is testament to the warming diplomatic relations between Turkey and Greece.
In the past century these relations have been characterized by territorial squabbles over islands in the Aegean and debates over the rights of minority populations in both countries.
Their geographical conflict came to a head in the 1974 Cyprus War, during which the two nations fought over their respective claims to the island. As a result, Cyprus remains partitioned into Turkish and Greek sides.
However, there are a number of issues at stake in addition to Cyprus: Turkey’s adherence to the European Union’s requirements for accession, the re-opening of a Greek Orthodox seminary near Istanbul, and greater rights for Turkey’s ethnic Greek minority.
Turkey also plans to push Athens for wider recognition of the country’s Turkish Muslim minority.
In addition to the diplomatic implications, Karamanlis’ visit marks a shift in the countries’ cultural perceptions.
Until about a decade ago, the two countries spoke of one another with hushed derision. But now popular culture on both sides of the Aegean celebrates the nations’ similarities by making entertainment out of their dwindling mutual animosity.
A Turkish-Greek version of the reality television show “Survivor” was a ratings hit in both countries. The host of the Turkish-language version of the program, Acun Ilicali, told The Christian Science Monitor, “A show like this would have been more dangerous 10 years ago. From the Turkish point of view, Greeks are more sympathetic now.”
Headline Link: ‘Greek Prime Minister in Turkey for First Official Visit Since 1959’
On Jan. 23, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis flew to the Turkish capital of Ankara to meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan about Turkey’s EU accession obligations. The two also discussed issues that have tensed trans-Aegean relations over the years, including the re-unification of Cyprus and the rights of minority populations. The talks specifically dealt with the re-opening of the Halki Seminary outside of Istanbul, which trains Greek Orthodox priests, and Ankara's desire to see greater religious freedom for ethnic Turks living in Greece.
Source: International Herald Tribune
Background: 'In Turkey, a Clash of Nationalism and History'
An art gallery exhibition in Istanbul, Turkey, depicting scenes of the Istanbul Pogroms of Sept. 6-7, 1955, opened to egg peltings and shouts of "love Turkey or leave it!" During the Pogroms, businesses of ethnic Greeks were torched and demolished, Greek men were forcibly circumcised—or killed—and most of Istanbul’s already dwindling Greek community was expelled from the region. Adnan Menderes, the then prime minister of Turkey, was later hanged after his government was found guilty of violating the constitution.
Source: The Washington Post
Historical Context: 'A Greek vs. Turk 'Survivor' Just May Ease a Bitter Past'
An Aegean version of the reality television program “Survivor” has been a smash hit in Greece and Turkey. With a Turkish and a Greek team sparring on a remote island, the show has made a point of highlighting the longstanding antagonism between the countries while also making it entertaining. Acun Ilicali, the Turkish host of the program told The Christian Science Monitor, "A show like this would have been more dangerous 10 years ago. From the Turkish point of view, Greeks are more sympathetic now.” A Turkish soap opera called “Foreign Groom,” revolving around the trials and tribulations of a Greek man marrying into a Turkish family, has also received record ratings. The Turkish members of the cast were made honorary citizens of the Greek island where many of the program’s scenes were filmed.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor
Key Players: Costas Karamanlis and Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Costas Karamanlis
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis grew up in one of the country’s most prominent political families. His uncle, Constantine, served two stints as prime minister, the first from 1955 to 1963, and the second from 1974 to 1980. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Constantine Karamanlis stayed in self-imposed exile after a military junta took power. In 1996, Costas Karamanlis was elected head of the party his uncle had founded upon his return from exile—the New Democracy Party. Although the BBC reports that his ascension was widely viewed as nepotistic, he is credited with modernizing many of the party's ideas.
Source: The BBC
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rose to power through populist politics. In 1994 Erdogan was elected as the mayor of the Greater Istanbul Municipality. In 1998 he was convicted of “inciting religious hatred” due to his recitation of an Islamist poem. He was then jailed for a brief period. His new political party, the moderate but Islamist-leaning Justice and Development Party, has ruled Turkey since 2002. The country has since seen enormous economic expansion, although secularists criticize his party’s social reform policies, which include a failed attempt to illegalize adultery, a move to re-draft the constitution to allow female students to wear Islamic-style headscarves at universities, and stiff taxation on alcohol. The working classes from rural areas, however, herald his policies.
Source: The BBC
Analysis: Different perspectives
Turkish daily paper Hürriyet said Karamanlis was “given red-carpet treatment,” with a full flag ceremony. Routine Greek/Turkey military exercises near contested islands in the Aegean Sea were put on temporary hiatus during the Greek Prime Minister’s visit.
Source: Hürriyet
On Jan. 25, the final day of Karamanlis’ visit, the Greek prime minister spoke to the Turkish-Greek Business Forum in Istanbul—Turkey’s largest city and main business center. Through streamlined pan-Aegean commerce, he said, the two countries can foster greater cultural and diplomatic bonds. “I believe that our economic collaborations pave the way for greater rapprochement between us and highlight in the most expository way the lost gain that tension and friction cost us. In that sense, they lay the groundwork for constant deepening of our bilateral relations," Karamanlis said. Bilateral trade totaled $2.7 billion in 2006, including the purchase of 46 percent of Turkish bank Finansbank.
Source: Athens News Agency
Related Topics: ‘Greece’s Ads in the Streets of Istanbul’
On Jan. 19, banners touting the riches of Greece went up on Istanbul’s thoroughfares in a public relations move coordinated with the Greek Prime Minister's visit to Turkey. "This is the first time we have engaged in a tourism campaign in Turkey," said Alexandros Dimitrakopoulos, the Greek consul in Istanbul. “If we are successful, we will continue our initiatives,” he told the Turkish Daily News.
Source: Turkish Daily News
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