Turkey could remove the casus belli with Greece in the Aegean Sea

(BRUSSELS2) This is one of the concrete consequences of Erdogan's visit to Athens in May (1). The Turkish Foreign Ministry is considering the removal of the "casus belli"(state of war) in the Aegean Sea, we learn. According to revelations in the Turkish and Greek press, Turkish diplomacy is preparing, in fact, a new "Red Book", the document setting out the Turkish doctrine of national security, which would provide for this deletion. Greece would also not be qualified as " external threat ". This is part of a new strategy by Ankara, which intends to eliminate the subjects of dispute with its neighbors and transform them into " cooperation factors ". This is good news for the south-eastern edge of Europe, which would thus see one of the potential sources of tension recede.

This document would be published in December. It should still be approved by the Turkish parliament. It should be noted that it does not only include an external dimension, but also an overhaul of the balance between civilians and soldiers within the Turkish power, particularly in judicial and legislative matters.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(1) Read: The crisis is good: is this the end of the Greece-Turkey cold war?