Türkiye, Greece nominate joint candidates for OSCE posts
Yorgo Kırbaki – ATHENS
Türkiye and Greece have jointly nominated candidates for two positions within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), signaling a thaw in their historically fraught relations.
In a letter dated late May, just before the candidacy deadline, Turkish and Greek foreign ministers Hakan Fidan and Giorgos Gerapetritis expressed their countries’ support for joint candidates for the OSCE.
The letter, which reached Turkish and Greek officials at the OSCE headquarters in Vienna, outlined the nomination of Feridun Sinirlioğlu, a former Turkish deputy minister and permanent representative to the U.N., for the role of OSCE secretary-general.
Sinirlioğlu faces competition from five other candidates for the secretary-general post in the 57-member organization.
The text also proposed Mania Telalian, former director of the Greek Foreign Ministry's legal department, as director of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
The nominations come amid a thaw between the neighbors, initiated during a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a NATO summit in July last year.
The leaders agreed to "open a new page" in bilateral relations, leading to reciprocal visits and the signing of several cooperation agreements, including efforts to combat illegal migration.
A recent outcome of the rapprochement was Türkiye's support for Greece's campaign to retrieve the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum, rejecting the claim that Lord Elgin had Ottoman permission to remove the antiquities.
In a move hailed by officials in Athens as a “hugely important” admission, Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry’s top anti-smuggling official Zeynep Boz said there was no evidence to prove the peer had been given a permit to strip the fifth-century B.C. monument of the sculptures.
“Türkiye is the country that would have the archived document pertaining to things that were sold legally at that time. Historians have for years searched the Ottoman archives and have not been able to find a ‘firman’ proving that the sale was legal, as it is being claimed,” Boz told the Associated Press.
However, the joint nominations have stirred controversy, particularly in Greek Cyprus, with daily Fileleftheros expressing discontent.
"At a time when the Turkish occupation of the island has been going on for 50 years, this joint application disturbed Cyprus," the paper wrote. "It is out of the question for us to support Sinirlioğlu."
The Greek Cypriot administration has been an EU member since 2004, while the northern part is recognized only by Ankara.
Meanwhile, media reports said the Greek Foreign Ministry has instructed its embassies to collaborate with Turkish counterparts in organizing events to support the joint candidacies.
Malta, currently holding the OSCE's rotating presidency, will compile a report based on consultations with member states, determining the appointments to the key positions by September.
Recent positive gestures from both sides signal a departure from longstanding tensions rooted in territorial disputes, differences in maritime boundaries and divergent political ideologies.
The thaw in relations gained momentum following Greece's swift response to last year's devastating earthquakes in southeastern Türkiye, where they sent rescue teams and aid. The solidarity deepened after a tragic train crash in northern Greece, with Ankara expressing condolences and providing assistance.