"Kazan-Kazan" Re-branded

For the rest of us who are not in command of the Turkish language the term means "win-win". Ragip Tagip Erdogan used this term during his meeting with the Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras last year in Istanbul. There is no doubt about the fact that each side has its own interpretation and version of the term. While Erdogan used the term in conjunction with the firm stance of his country that a "unilateral" declaration of its "Exclusive Economic Zone" by Greece would politically viewed by Turkey as a "Casus Belli" - i.e. the diplomatic term to express "a cause for war", essentially dictating Greece to refrain from the exploitation of its natural resources in the Aegean, it is rather interesting to view how this concept has evolved since last year on both sides. While Turkey has committed a budget of 25 Billion EUR for Military spending in 2015, Greece lost yet another -ever more valuable- F-16 Block 52+- fighter plane yesterday due to poor maintenance. And tomorrow Turkey's Prime Minister Davoutoglou is visiting Greece to start negotiations (probably a gentle and misguiding use of the term here, in fact he will place demands upon Greece) on the EEZ, on the Turkish minorities in Thrace and other related issues and will thus slightly increase the pressure on Greece. A first sign of the upcoming pressure is symbolically expressed through the mobilization and display of the entirely new and modernized Turkish fleet that will guard his visit in a manner that is probably surpassing the majestic display of naval power by Russia during the recent G20 Brisbane Summit. And as we said in another post, in the context of negotiations "timing" is a strong tool in leveraging interests. From a Greek perspective one has to wonder, is this really a good time for Greece to open up this diplomatic front of negotiations with Turkey or just another display of political amateurism?