The Supreme Council of Greece-Turkey Cooperation will be held in Athens on December 7 and will be attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The discussion on the details of the next meeting between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Erdoğan was held yesterday in Ankara. Discussions also included Confidence Building.
It was decided to review and activate measures that have already been decided and are on the 2011 list. Among them, the activation of the telephone line between the Larissa-Eskişehir air bases, the exchange of officers' visits, the organisation of sports events, etc.
The official announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
The Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias, stated that the two delegations will present to the Ministers of Defense the prioritisation of the measures from the existing list of 2011, and they will decide on their activation.
On the plus side, it restores a direct channel of communication at the military level that can prove extremely useful in avoiding tensions that could be caused by a random and small-scale incident while at the same time maintaining a good atmosphere that facilitates the path to the Supreme Cooperation Council in December. And even more important is that a positive message is given for the continuation of the climate of non-tension in the Aegean.
It is evident that Athens wanted to avoid an in-depth discussion of new MOUs that would de facto lead the discussion to the essence of other issues that cannot be dealt with at this level, while from previously agreed MOUs, the discussion and activation of the most painless with the exception of the telephone line between the two Air Headquarters in Larissa and Eskişehir. This MOU was already decided in 2005.
The discussion on the MOUs had been interrupted in 2020 due to Turkish challenges, and their resumption had been postponed several times, but Mitsotakis and Erdoğan included this issue in the overall process of rapprochement that they decided on at their meeting in Vilnius in July.
This process foresees the discussion of the positive agenda, the political dialogue and the MOUs and will culminate with the ASS in December.
The Greek delegation led by Ambassador Theocharis Lalakos was also received in Ankara by the Minister of Defence of Turkey, Yaşar Güler and then met with the Turkish delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akcapar.
According to the identical announcement issued by the Defence Ministries of Greece and Turkey, it is pointed out that "the two sides agreed, in principle, to implement or reactivate MOE activities during the year 2024, from the previously agreed MOE list. The meeting was held in a positive spirit. The two sides also agreed to establish a contact point mechanism to communicate and facilitate the implementation of the agreed MOUs."
Yesterday, after reports in Turkish newspapers presented an agenda with a list of MOUs, several of which had been proposed in the past by Turkey and had not been accepted by Greece, the Ministry of National Defence was obliged through its sources to clarify that they have no basis.
The same sources, as cited by Proto Thema, even pointed out that "the talks concern the preparation of MOU activities for the year 2024, from the approved, common, list of MOUs drawn up in 2010 (e.g. organisation of sports events, exchange of visits by military delegations, exchange of visits between the Commanders of border units, telephone line between the Larissa - Eskişehir air bases).
From 2001 to 2010, a list of 29 MOUs has been agreed upon, many of which are low-level political and mainly aimed at restoring communication between the Armed Forces of the two countries and activities that even restore interpersonal contact. From sports competitions, interconnection of military hospitals, Greek and Turkish language courses for members of the Armed Forces, holding of scientific symposia up to the exchange of visits by officers, exchange of visits by commanders of border regions, etc.
At a purely military level, the two countries have the Papoulia-Yilmaz Memorandum and the "Directions for the Prevention of Accidents and Incidents in international waters and International Airspace" of 1988, which cover a wide range of activities of the Armed Forces of the two countries, but the problem is that they are not implemented with the exception perhaps of the Exercise Moratorium which this year has been extended in the context of the improvement of relations that followed the February earthquakes in Turkey.
Turkey's constant pursuit in the MOU discussion is the introduction of measures that will limit the risk of accidents even in Turkey's illegal activities but also lead to an indirect acceptance of Turkey's challenges to Greek sovereign rights in the Aegean.
Turkey has at times brought up the code of conduct for discussion to limit the risks from the illegal entry of Turkish fighters into Greek airspace and the adoption of the IFF system so that Turkish aircraft are automatically recognised as friendly when they violate Greek airspace or commit violations within the Athens FIR without filing plans flight (as they do not recognise the Greek airspace of 10 nm, nor the Greek authorities within the Athens FIR).
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