Turkish PM's visit to Athens may signal easing of tension

President Tayyip Erdoğan likes to hit out at Europe over its "mistaken" attitude toward Turkey. Since last July's traumatic coup attempt, we have often heard him accusing Europeans of "letting Turkey down," "not showing enough empathy to the country's problems," or "supporting the traitors of his country."

Germany and Greece have often been at the top of his hit list, with the Turkish president making no effort to conceal his anger. 

It was no different last week. Speaking to private broadcaster Haber 7, Erdoğan once again complained about the injustices against to Turkey. He referred to "certain [states] still hiding terrorists who escaped from Turkey [after the coup attempt]," mentioning Greece and Germany by name. "Right now," he said, "there over 10 [terrorists] in Greece. Do you know what [the Greeks] are telling us? We cannot interfere with the justice system. Is such an absurdity possible?"   

Erdoğan then went on to attack the EU for its "fascistic practices," referring to the ban on political rallies by Turkish politicians ahead of the April referendum on shifting to an executive presidential system. He also attacked the U.S. for cooperating with a terrorist organization, referring to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic People's Party (PYD) "after supplying them with a large number of weapons." Of course, Erdoğan also reminded everybody that the EU has still not fulfilled its promise to grant Turkey 6 billion euros by the end of 2016 as part of the refugee deal. 

The timing of the reference to Greece in Erdoğan's outburst requires special attention. He touched upon the issue just before Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım's visit to Athens on June 18. The subject of coup soldiers in Greece will likely figure highly in the scheduled...