Increased ties in the energy sector between the two neighboring countries Turkey and Greece are raising hopes for improved relations in the political arena.
“Cooperation in energy, a sensitive area, is actually a symbol of mutual trust and reaffirmation of friendly ties between the two countries,” said İlter Turan, a political analyst.
He said the deadlock in political ties was not a negative factor as far as international collaboration over major energy projects was concerned. “The looming presence of problems between Ankara and Athens does not herald all-out war but is a sign of peaceful solutions to existing problems in the political arena.”
Under an inter-governmental agreement sealed last month, Turkey started to supply Greece with electricity beginning Saturday to help the latter handle rising power consumption particularly during the summer months. The Turkish Electricity Trade Inc. will supply Greece with approximately 180 million kilowatt-hours over a period of one-and-a-half months. This deal will be a quid pro quo; with Greece providing Turkey with the same amount during January-February 2008.
Another major energy project is the Turkish-Greek natural gas pipeline, a part of the southern energy corridor transferring Middle Eastern gas to Europe via Turkey. The 300-kilometer pipeline starts from Karacabey (near western Bursa province). Seventeen kilometers of the pipeline lies under the Marmara Sea and ends in Komotini in Greece.
Launched in July 2005 by the prime ministers of Turkey and Greece, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Costas Karamanlis, the pipeline project was completed earlier than scheduled. On Friday, Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Güler and his Greek counterpart, Dimitris Sioufas inspected the transition of the pipeline at the buffer zone over the river Meriç, which constitutes the border between Turkey and Greece. The two ministers exchanged olive branches in a mutual goodwill gesture.
Inal Batu, a former diplomat experienced in Turkish-Greek ties, said fostering energy ties between the two countries had the potential of spreading to the diplomatic field.
“Throughout my entire career I have been a defender of cooperation with Greece in all areas including the field of energy. Turkish-Greek ties are currently proceeding on a true path and I consider the energy dimension to be everlasting,” he said.
Batu, a former parliamentarian, emphasized that fears were still prevalent on both sides but said the Turkish-Greek relations cannot be compared to what they were 10 years ago.
A series of political hurdles ranging from the Cyprus deadlock to the Aegean dispute dominated Turkish-Greek relations. According to Angeliki Spanou, diplomatic editor of Greek daily Eleftheros Tipos, a rapprochement has started in bilateral ties since 1999 in economic and financial sectors but she said improvement in political ties depended on a settlement to crucial disputes including the Cyprus problem.
(Turkish Daily News, 07/08/2007)