Introduction

For at least the last 40 years Greece and Turkey have been experiencing a relationship of Cold War-type, protracted conflict ‘disrupted’ by shorter or longer détente breaks. This situation has also been described as a relationship of manageable tension. Regardless of terminology, what does exist is a very disturbing potential for escalation, which can lead to a more serious crisis with alarming destabilizing effects at a regional level. The dispute has certainly been a major source of instability in the eastern Mediterranean and a major concern for Greece and Turkey’s NATO allies. Since the Cyprus crisis of 1974, the potential for a major clash between Greece and Turkey has been important for the regional security equation, albeit overshadowed for decades by Cold War dynamics.