Majority of Turkiye citizens believe tensions with Greece a result of elections - poll

A new poll has revealed that the majority of Turkish citizens say tensions with Greece are caused by politics and the elections, as disputes between the two neighbours continue to worsen.

According to the survey conducted by the company, Metropoll, between 13 and 17 August, 52 per cent of the 1,717 citizens in 28 provinces expressed their belief that the crisis in relations with Greece was the result of elections, with only 26.2 per cent disagreeing with that point. Out of those surveyed, 64 per cent also did not consider Greece as an enemy nation.

The results of last month’s poll comes amid increasing disputes between Ankara and Athens in recent years and months, including that of territorial waters in the Aegean Sea, invasions of airspace and the disarmament of Aegean islands.

Since 2019, for example, Greece has been arming and militarising numerous Aegean islands, ignoring Turkiye’s repeated demands for it to cease the manoeuvres and abide by the Treaty of Lausanne.

READ: US, NATO call on Turkiye, Greece to discuss ending mutual tension

Turkiye has also accused Greece of lobbying the US and its Congress to prevent the sale of F-16 fighter jets to the Turkish military, with Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, having said that his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s efforts to lobby Washington were a serious breach of trust. In what Ankara sees as diplomatic attacks and outsourcing bilateral disputes, Athens has additionally complained about its neighbour to the European Union (EU).

The Turkish government has condemned Greek authorities for their treatment of refugees, too, as they have repeatedly pushed away boats, left them stranded at sea, abused refugees and committed other human rights violations against them.

More recently, Greek defence systems were reported to have locked onto Turkish F-16 jets over the Aegean Sea, allegedly harassing them at least 158 times since the beginning of this year. According to these figures, Greek coast guard boats also violated Turkish waters 33 times and violated Turkish airspace 256 times within the same time period.

READ: Turkiye says will not buy F-16s from US if conditions imposed on use