Greek-Turkish Rapprochement: Rhetoric or Reality?

Abstract

The Greek-Turkish rapprochement of recent years has been a remarkable achievement. The process has been facilitated by the Europeani zation of both countries and is now largely irreversible. At the same time, the process has lost some of its early momentum. Core issues of conflict relating to Cyprus and the Aegean remain unresolved. It will not be possible to deepen the rapprochement process without resolving these core issues of conflict. This will require considerable political will and leadership as well as deter mination on both sides. Furthermore, a favorable European Union (EU) con text is critical in terms of consolidating the rapprochement process and turning it into a durable partnership. Greek-Turkish relations in the modern era have been characterized by cycles of improvement in and worsening of bilateral relations.1 Historically, there have been three distinct phases of rapprochement between the two countries. The first phase of d?tente in Greek-Turkish relations followed the Treaty of Friendship signed between Mustafa Kemal Atat?rk and the Greek