Ahmet Davutoglu: ‘Greece at Bottom of Turkey’s List of Adversaries’

Former Turkish Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu this week stressed that Greece ranks “at the bottom of Turkey’s list of adversaries,” arguing that Ankara’s strategic priorities lie in the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Black Sea.

Speaking to Ta Nea Weekend on the sidelines of The Economist’s 30th Athens Government Roundtable, Davutoglu, a veteran Turkish politician and academic, called for “a new understanding” of Greek-Turkish relations.

At the same time, Davutoglu rejected official Greece’s claim that its islands are entitled to extend their territorial waters to 12 nautical miles in the Aegean, maintained that Turkey remains ready for negotiations and described the recent NATO summit in Ankara as a success for Turkey. On Ankara’s efforts to rejoin the US-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, he said it was too early to draw conclusions.