Turkish-Greek economic ties expand

Capital.gr

The Turkish market has become a major export destination for crisis-stricken Greece, as Greek companies find it harder to sell in the domestic market due to worsening financial conditions of the average Greek household.

Greek exports to Turkey surged to $3.5 billion (2.6 billion euros) in 2012 from $1.1 billion in 2009, according to Turkstat data. During this period, the average year-on-year increase of Greek exports hovered around 50 percent, while Turkish exports remained flat at around $1.5 billion each year.

This eye-catching shift in trade relations left Turkey as a net importer from Greece, whereas in 2007, before the Greek debt crisis, Turkey had a positive trade balance with Greece of $1.7 billion.

Archontis Pantsios, a professor of economics at The American College of Thessaloniki, said that since the onset of the crisis in Greece, Turkey has become a more suitable market for Greek companies.

"They are looking to lower the costs and exporting to Turkey is an effective option for Greek companies," Pantsios told SETimes.

Turkey΄s vibrant domestic demand and large market is seen as another reason for the increase in Greek exports to Turkey.

Turkey, Greece wary of territorial waters claims

H.K. Tzanis             SETimes 

Both countries appear poised to keep discussing the potential dispute amid reports that Greece may unilaterally claim an exclusive economic zone.

Recent and highly publicised gas finds in the eastern Mediterranean between Israel and Cyprus, coupled with cash-strapped Greece's eagerness to better exploit natural resources, has thrust the question of exclusive economic zones into the spotlight.

Over the past couple years Athens and Ankara have moved to mend once tense relations despite long-entrenched opposing views on sea rights in the Aegean. But recent reports in Greek media that the country is preparing to unilaterally delimitate the zones carries the potential for friction.

Turkey's chief foreign affairs official insists, however, that the two countries have "channels" to discuss and deal with any dispute.

At the crux of Athens' standing position on maritime jurisdictions is the landmark UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, of which Greece and all EU member-states are signatories, but Turkey is not.

The convention, in force since 1994, recognises nations' rights to extend their territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles (22 kilometres) and an exclusive economic zone up to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from a defined coastal baseline. To date, neither Turkey nor Greece have officially claimed an economic zone or extended their territorial waters to the full 12 miles in the Aegean.