Greece wants Turkey's EU accession

Athens actually wants its Turkish neighbour to join the EU because the advantages outweight the disadvantages, the conservative daily Kathimerini writes: "Greece is perhaps the only country that really wants a European Turkey. It has a strategic interest in backing the country's move towards the EU and ultimately its EU accession. Unlike other European countries that oppose Turkey's bid for reasons of their own, Greece would prefer a Turkish neighbour who belongs to the European family and therefore won't provoke it or make threats against it. This is not a typical communication trick. Greece stands to benefit from this development. This is why all Greek governments in the past years have supported this position unanimously. ... The current Prime Minister George Papandreou has even shown genuine interest in the course of his political career in normalising Greek-Turkish relations, and the political leaders and citizens of our neighbouring country are aware of this."

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