Cross-Border Cooperation: Greece and Turkey

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Miscellaneous, grade: A, University of Flensburg, language: English, abstract: In this paper will be examined the cross-border cooperation between Greece and Turkey and more specifically the cross-border region of Thrace will be analyzed in detail. The case of the Greek-Turkish cross-border region is becoming more interesting than other cross-border regions, since Greece is a member of EU from 1981 and Turkey is a candidate member since 2005, that is to say the cross-border area in between these countries consists of the external borders of the EU with a potential member state of EU. Furthermore, the region of Thrace (Western Thrace for Greece and Eastern Thrace for Turkey) not only consists of an important region in geopolitical terms for both of the countries, but also the current situation of cross-border cooperation in this particular region represents and in to some extend explains with the most concrete way the prevailed situation of cross-border cooperation in the whole cross-border area of Greece and Turkey, including the border region of the Aegean Sea with coastal Turkey, the sea borders between these countries. Namely, it is indicative that the region of Thrace participated in Interreg IIIA but was excluded in Interreg IV, fact that complexes the cross-border cooperation and will be analyzed in detail in the following chapters. Before analyzing the case of Thrace, it is essential to mention that Greece and Turkey have long history of conflict, which goes back to the dissolution of Ottoman Empire and the formation of the Greek independent state. Currently, there is no military conflict but there are still political matters that are questioned form the one or the other side. The disputable sea borders, the air space, the FIR of Athens and the minorities in both of the countries are some o-border cooperation in a successful way. In specific, in the case of Thrace, the Turkish minority in the Greek part of Thrace plays an important role for cross-border cooperation and can be considered as a parameter that is responsible for the current situation of non actual cooperation.