AN ANALYSIS OF TURKISH-GREEK ECONOMIC RELATIONS A Master‟s Thesis by NÜVE ...

209 Pages·2016·1.22 MB·English

POLITICS OF INTERDEPENDENCE: AN ANALYSIS OF TURKISH-GREEK
ECONOMIC RELATIONS

A Master‟s Thesis

by
NÜVE YAZGAN

Department of International Relations
Ġhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University
Ankara
May 2016
POLITICS OF INTERDEPENDENCE: AN ANALYSIS OF TURKISH-GREEK
ECONOMIC RELATIONS

The Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences
of
Ġhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University

by
NÜVE YAZGAN

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
ĠHSAN DOĞRAMACI BĠLKENT UNIVERSITY
ANKARA
May 2016

ABSTRACT
POLITICS OF INTERDEPENDENCE: AN ANALYSIS OF TURKISH-GREEK
ECONOMIC RELATIONS
Yazgan, Nüve
M.A., Department of International Relations
Supervisor: Associate Prof. Dr. Dimitri Tsarouhas
May2016
Over the last two decades, there has been a dramatic increase in bilateral relations
between Greece and Turkey in many areas from trade to tourism. This increase has
taken through both state and non-state level initiatives. It has become difficult to
ignore the existence of the economic interactions between the two countries.Previous
studies in the literature have mostly ignored the political economy of relations.The
purpose of this thesis is to examine the current state of economic relations between
Greece and Turkey, and how these affect the two states‟ political relations. Therefore
it asks the question “to what extent do economic ties reflect on the evolution of
political relations between Greece and Turkey?”This research studies bilateral
economic relations by focusing onthe fields of trade, foreign direct investment,
energy and tourism interactions between the two countries and revisits
liberal/neoliberal approaches of economic interdependence to explore their relevance
in the Turkish-Greek case. It aims: 1. To examine the scope of economic
interdependence between two countries, 2. To ascertain the limitations and
opportunities in fields of economic interaction, 3. To determine the extent to which
economic interactions between the two countries can be helpful in transforming
i
relations and whether increasing economic interdependence provide opportunities for
the resolution of their bilateral political problems.

Keywords:Greece, Interdependence, Political Economy, Turkey

ii
ÖZET
KARġILIKLI BAĞIMLILIK POLĠTĠKALARI: TÜRK-YUNAN EKONOMĠK
ĠLĠġKĠLERĠ‟NĠN ANALĠZĠ
Yazgan, Nüve
Yüksek Lisans, Uluslararası ĠliĢkiler Bölümü
DanıĢman: Doç. Dr. Dimitri Tsarouhas
Mayıs 2016

Geçtiğimiz yirmi yılda, Yunanistan ve Türkiye arasındaki iliĢkilerde, ticaretten
turizme farklı alanlarda, belirgin değiĢiklikler yaĢandı. Bu değiĢikler hem devlet
aktörleri hem de devlet dıĢı aktörler düzeyinde meydana geldi. Böylelikle iki ülke
iliĢkilerinde ekonomik etkileĢimin varlığını göz ardı etmek zorlaĢtı. Literatürdeki
çalıĢmalar çoğunlukla Türk-Yunan iliĢkilerinin politik ekonomiğini incelemeyi ihmal
etmiĢlerdir. Bu tezin amacı Yunanistan ve Türkiye arasındaki ekonomik iliĢkilerin Ģu
anki durumunu analiz etmek vebunun politik iliĢkilere nasıl yansıdığını incelemektir.
Bu nedenle bu tez; ekonomik bağlar Yunanistan ve Türkiye arasındaki politik
iliĢkilere ne derecede yansımaktadır sorusunu soruyor. Bu araĢtırma ikili ekonomik
iliĢkileri ticaret, yabancı direkt yatırım, enerji ve turizm baĢlıkları altında ve
liberal/neoliberal karĢılıklı bağımlılık anlayıĢını temel alarak incelemektedir.Tezin
öncelikli amaçları: 1. Ekonomik karĢılıklı bağımlılığın derecesini araĢtırmak, 2.
Ekonomik etkileĢim alanlarındaki limitler ve fırsatların incelenmesi 3. Ġki ülke
arasındaki ekonomik etkileĢimin iliĢkilerin dönüĢümünde ne derece faydalı
iii
olacağının ve artan ekonomik karĢılıklı bağımlılığın politik sorunların çözülmesi için
fırsatlar yaratıp yaratmayacağının belirlenmesidir.

Anahtar sözcükler:KarĢılıklı bağımlılık, Politik Ekonomi, Türkiye, Yunanistan

iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my warmest gratitude to my
supervisor Associate Professor Dimitri Tsarouhas who has been providing me with
his invaluable guidance over the years. I would have not been written this thesis with
such a peaceful mind without his advice and encouragement throughout this journey.
Having his support means a lot.
I am also grateful to Associate Professor Ioannis Grigoriadis who has always
been helpful and supportive on every single issue whenever I have needed since my
undergraduate years. I wish to thank my thesis committee member Associate
Professor Özgehan ġenyuva for his constructive comments and criticism on the
theoretical framework of this thesis. Special thanks also go to my interviewees for
their significant contribution. I would also like to thank Assistant Professor Can
Mutlu for his valuable support in last two years and Dr. Alekos Lamprou for helping
me out on the Greek language.
I would like to thank my beloved friends Hazal, Merve, BüĢra and many
others who have touched my life. I cannot say enough how I appreciate their love
and kindheartedness. Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to my
dearest family members for their endless support throughout my academic career.

v
TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………….............ii
ÖZET…………………………………………………………………………….......iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………………………v
TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………….vi
LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………...........ix
LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………….xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS………………………………………………………xii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION………………………………………….………....1
CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK…………………………………….5
2.1.Commercial Liberalism and Democratic Peace Theory………………………..5
2.2. Trade vs. Conflict Theories…………………………………………………...11
2.3. Interdependence Theory and Institutionalist IR………………………………15
2.4. Bridging between theories……………………………………………………26
CHAPTER 3: OVERVIEW OF TURKISH-GREEK RELATIONS……………..…29
3.1. Evolution of Turkish-Greek Relations…………………………………….….29
3.2. The Historical Roots and Pre-1990‟s Period………………………………....30
3.3. Issues of Dispute……………………………………………………………...34
3.3.1. The Aegean Conflict……………………………………………….…34
3.3.2. The Cyprus Conflict………………………………………………….39
3.4. Changes and Continuities in Greek and Turkish Foreign Policies/Post-90s

developments……………………………………………………………………......50
vi