Greece Concerned Israel-Turkey Rapprochement will Undermine Recent Gains

Greece, which has been the beneficiary of the Israel-Turkey rift over the past several years, is concerned that the apparent rapprochement between its two neighbors will roll-back the benefits it’s enjoyed since 2010. Immediately after Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, he phoned his Greek counterpart to offer assurances that improved relations with Turkey won’t come at the expense of Greece. As the rift with Turkey grew, Israel transferred economic and military cooperation previously shared with Ankara to the Greeks. Large numbers – estimated in the hundreds of thousands — of Israelis who had previously flocked to Turkey traveled instead to Greece pouring millions of dollars into its struggling economy. Nevertheless, the reconciliation between Israel and Turkey is not complete. According to Erdogan, it will not be until compensation is paid to the families of those killed aboard the Mavi Marmara in May 2010, the details of which have not yet been agreed upon. The process began with an apology by Netanyahu during the Friday phone call to Erdogan, a demand the Turkish leader has been making since the incident. Netanyhau has said that the situation in Syria was key to his decision to offer the apology.