Turkish-Greek friendship, only a handshake away!: Op-ed

Though largely unadmitted, the key truth about Turkish-Greek differences over the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean is that they are solvable. How so? For the reason that there is in store a wealth of wisdom and experience accumulated over many years of arduous exploratory talks and negotiations between the two neighbors.

Very few stones have been left unturned in the search for a solution. The answers are out there. I make this assertion because I have been directly involved in these bilateral encounters at the various stages of my 35-year long career in the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Thus, the obstacle to mutual accommodation, as I suggest and explain later, must be sought elsewhere.

It is not my intention to reveal any state secrets here. But as a former insider, I deem it is time to try at least to put things in perspective so that Turkey and Greece can finally navigate their way to peaceful waters. As neighbors, they both stand to gain a lot from a settlement. Strategic, economic and, social benefits would follow for the betterment of the lives of Turks and Greeks alike. It could also have a positive impact on the question of Cyprus. And Europe would breathe easier.

The technical details of the various issues separating the two neighbors are not germane to my proposition here. A further caveat concerns the problems of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace and the status of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in Istanbul. These issues too will not be discussed here though any agreement on the Aegean should have a salutary effect on them as well.

Here then is the list of the Aegean issues at hand: the delimitation of territorial waters, of national airspace and of exclusive economic zones; continental shelf; the demilitarized status of...