IRMO Brief 07/2021, "Greece and Turkey: A Prime Example of a Complicated Relationship"

Introduction

‍The relations between Greece and Turkey are known to be historically tense and problematic. Despite being NATO allies, their relationship has been marked by various crises over the past decades and often caught the attention of the international community. Greece, on theone side, prides itself on being the origin of Western civilization and democracy, and being able to withstand 400 years of Ottoman reign. Turkey, on the other side, saw its democracy being fractured by periods of instability and intermittent military coups (1960, 1971, 1980), while as early as 1964, it became an associate ember of the European Community; the goal being to ultimately join the ‘club’ – as Greece did back in 1981.

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