Greece needs to reconsider its relationship with Turkey

"A 'special relationship' between Ankara and the EU, which is being proposed by Mr Sarkozy [France's president-elect] and heartily backed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is only viable if Turkey itself embraces this option, for its own reasons", notes the Greek columnist Costas Iordanidis. "The Greek government does not back this prospect because it would allow Ankara to gain all the benefits of EU membership without obliging it to cooperate with Greece subject to the principles of good neighborly relations. The Cypriot government has more or less the same stance. ... The entrance of Sarkozy onto the European political stage will prompt an essential slowdown, if not total paralysis, of Turkey's European-bound course. This calls for alertness from Greece's political leadership, which always thought that the European Commission would be able to solve its longstanding problems with Turkey."

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