A stint of unfamiliar calm between Greece and Turkey lasted less than three years.
After a devastating earthquake struck Turkey in February 2023 and Greece provided substantial aid, the two countries came closer together. They then signed the Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good-Neighbourliness in December 2023, a further step to improved relations.
During this unusual time of calm, neither government moved to resolve long-lasting Greek-Turkish disputes, which mostly involve marking maritime boundaries. As a result, even a measure ostensibly aimed at protecting the environment has reignited regional tensions.
The latest dispute was triggered by Turkey's designation of two marine parks in the Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean earlier this month. The park in the northeastern Aegean includes a protected area in the waters between the Greek islands of Lemnos and Samothrace. The southern park lies east of Rhodes and surrounds the Greek island of Kastellorizo.
For decades, Greece and Turkey have been at odds over the delineation of their maritime borders in the Aegean and the related economic rights, such as claims to natural resources like oil.
