Russia — Turkey — Greece: Dialogue opportunities in the Balkans

Abstract

This monograph is the product of an international conference entitled “Russia — Turkey — Greece: Opportunities for Dialogue in the Balkans”, which was held on September 15, 2020. The conference was conducted by the Department of Modern History of Central and South-Eastern Europe of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The authors of the monograph studied a wide range of issues related to the roles of Russia, Turkey, and Greece in the Balkans. Researchers have examined both the history and future perspectives; namely, how their mutual interactions have affected their overall relations and how they may contribute to the dialogue and cooperation amongst the three nations. The topics examined include: wars and diplomatic relations in general, religious ties and their impact, historical memory and modern images, regional issues and migration, the ties among the three countries and their influence on mutual relations. The first part of the monograph entitled “Russian-Turkish-Greek relations in historical retrospect” deals with such topics as the historical memory of the Balkans between the Byzantine, Ottoman, and Russian Empires and the current foreign policy practices of several countries in the region; the first Russian consuls in the Ottoman Empire during peace and war of 1776–1787; the fate of Russians, Bulgarians, and Turks in the crucible of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878; and Khilandar Monastery on Mount Athos, Russian diplomacy in the context of Russian-Serbian relations in 1850–1870s, and the history of the relations between Russia and Mount Athos in the second half of the 19th century using the examples of Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin) and St. Panteleimon Monastery. The authors offer a historical context of imperial relations which serves as a “bridge” to understanding later events. In the second part, “Russia, Turkey, Greece at the present stage: opportunities for cooperation and partnership”, experts consider a number of regional problems, namely: political relations between the USSR, Turkey, and Greece on the Cyprus issue between 1950 and 1970; a comparative analysis of the policies of Turkey, the Russian Federation, and Greece towards the Kosovo issue from 1999 to 2008; Turkey’s policy in the Balkans and Turkish approaches to interaction with Russia and Greece; and Greek-Turkish disagreement over the Aegean Sea. Other chapters examine bilateral relations and their effects on the third party: Greece and Turkey, cooperation or rivalry in the migration sphere; the Turkish factor in Greek-Russian relations in the 2010s; problems and prospects of development of cooperation in the Balkans: Russia’s role. Two chapters explore the historical memories of the Balkan people: Friend forever — unfriend forever: Russia and Turkey as seen by modern Greeks, and “Revival Process” in the modern Bulgarian Turk’s memory according to the results of an expedition to Slavjanovo village. Finally, a chapter on mathematical tools for measuring the level of multilingualism of the population in the Russian Federation, the Turkish Republic, Greece, and the Republic of Cyprus concludes the monograph. In the last decades there has been a steady rapprochement in Russian-Turkish relations and a deepening of cooperation both at the bilateral and regional levels. In Greece, traditional cultural and historical ties with Russia have been preserved, and public opinion continues to demonstrate a high degree of trust in modern Russia and its leadership. In this context, the monograph is an important contribution to the study of the Balkans, has promoted the exchange of views and cooperation among scholars, and may further strengthen mutual understanding among the peoples of Russia, Turkey, and Greece. These works may be of interest to researchers of the history of the Balkans, Greece and Turkey, university students, and practitioners and experts interested in the region.