Turkey wants to send another gas drilling ship to the Mediterranean. That should annoy Greece. When Turkey sent such a ship two years ago, the conflict escalated. Two warships even collided. Journalist Thomas Seibert from Istanbul explains why Turkey is now provoking again.
SRF News: Why is Turkey sending another drilling ship to the Mediterranean?
Thomas Seibert: That fits into a whole series of areas of tension that are opening up between Turkey and Greece. It’s about sovereign territories in the Aegean, it’s about these gas deposits in the Mediterranean. This ship is not supposed to look for gas near Turkey, but near Crete, a Greek island far from Turkey.
Legend:
Unlike two years ago, there are now fewer personalities who could mediate.
key stone
What is Erdogan hoping for from this maneuver?
This is about Turkish domestic politics. Erdogan faces difficult elections next year. Turkey’s economy is on the ground. People complain about rising prices. Erdogan needs foreign policy successes. Unfortunately, in Turkey it is profitable for a politician to lash out at Greece in the nationalist electoral spectrum.
What exactly is this conflict with Greece about?
Basically, several areas of conflict meet here. One is the unresolved claims to sovereignty in the Aegean. This has to do with the history of the two countries after the First World War. To this day it is not known exactly where the border line runs. Some Greek islands are close to the Turkish mainland. This raises the question of how far the respective sovereign waters reach.
In recent decades there have been repeated attempts to clarify this at the negotiating table. But they didn’t work. Then there is the Cyprus conflict. Cyprus is divided into the Greek Republic and a Turkish part of the island. The Turks derive from this division claims of the Turkish Cypriots affecting the territorial waters around Cyprus.
Erdogan relies on domestic political signals to keep his voters in line.
Two years ago, Ankara also sent a drilling ship to the disputed areas and that’s when things escalated. Is such an escalation now to be expected again?
Unfortunately, it cannot be ruled out. I don’t think it is in Turkey’s interest to escalate this conflict to the point of military confrontation. Erdogan relies on domestic political signals to keep his voters in line.
Only recently, during the visit of the German Foreign Minister to Turkey, did we see that Germany is now taking a harder line against Turkey.
Two years ago, Turkey only gave in when the EU threatened sanctions. Why isn’t Erdogan more impressed by this?
First, Erdogan’s domestic situation is worse than it was two years ago. Secondly, there are now fewer personalities in Turkish-European relations who could throw themselves into the breach. Only recently, during the visit of the German Foreign Minister to Turkey, did we see that Germany is now taking a harder line against Turkey. At that time, Chancellor Merkel was still mediating in this dispute. She is gone. In this respect, there are few mechanisms that could take effect.
Erdogan is already in campaign mode for next year’s presidential election. Do you expect that there will be more such maneuvers on his part?
You have to reckon with that. Above all, because there will also be elections in Greece in the next few months. Conversely, in Greece too, tensions with Turkey are a suitable topic for mobilizing the electorate.
Nina Gygax conducted the interview.