Today in History – 19 August

A new chapter in Turkish-Greek relations

Setting his sights on Turkey in pursuit of the “Megali Idea” aspiration after taking over military administration in Greece in 1910, Venizelos dreamed of reinstating the Byzantine Empire and creating a Greek State that would spread across two continents and open up to five seas. Engaging in different alliances for this purpose, Venizelos had managed to expand his territory and increase the population of his country. Following these developments, Venizelos explained his next objective in creating the Greater Greece as follows to Minister of the Interior Emanuel Repulis: “It is now time to turn our eyes on the East.”

Had the plans of Venizelos not been disrupted by Atatürk and the Turkish nation, Greece would have fulfilled the Megali Idea to a large extent under the rule of Venizelos. However, the defeat in Anatolia pushed Venizelos out of politics for some time. When he strongly returned to power once again in the August 19, 1928 elections, he had given up on his former designs and seemed to be concerned with improving the living conditions of the Greek people.

Establishing a close collaboration with Turkey during this period constituted the primary objective of Venizelos’ new foreign policy. Therefore, merely 11 days after the elections, he sent a letter to Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Tevfik Rüştü (Aras) and Prime Minister İsmet Pasha. With the positive feedback from Turkey, the path to a new friendship between Turkey and Greece was opened. During the Greek Prime Minister’s visit to Ankara, the two countries signed, on October 30, 1930, the “Treaty of Friendship, Neutrality, Reconciliation, and Arbitration,” “Protocol on the Limitation of Naval Forces,” and “Residency, Commerce, and Navigation Agreement.”

Although some historians regard Venizelos’ discourse on friendship exaggerated and criticize him for it, the treaties of 1930 are the biggest diplomatic achievements of the politician and constitute real politics for the two nations.