A Historical Materialist Reading of the Contested Relations between Greece and Turkey


TÜRKEŞ M., UZGÖREN E., Soysal C.

Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, cilt.27, sa.1, ss.13-35, 2025 (SSCI, Scopus) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 27 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2025
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/19448953.2024.2318676
  • Dergi Adı: Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, Historical Abstracts, Humanities Abstracts, Index Islamicus, Political Science Complete
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.13-35
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Foreign policy, Greece and Turkey, historical materialism, Euro-Atlantic imperialism, fossil energy resources, Eastern Mediterranean, neoliberal globalization
  • Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This article examines the contested relationship between Greece and Turkey from a historical materialist approach. It seeks to explain the very essence of this contestation rather than merely focusing on its surface forms. While doing this, we eschew intra-Marxist theoretical debates not to exceed the research scope. The article argues that the foreign policies of Greece and Turkey have indeed been subject to considerations of the dominant bourgeois classes in both countries that have been stimulated as well as bound by Euro-Atlantic imperialism. It considers the relative comparative advantages of Greece and Turkey’s relational and possessional capabilities. It puts forward that the historical materialist approach has better explanatory power and offers an alternative reading. It elaborates upon the tense relations between the two countries, showing the interwoven connections with imperialism at national and international levels. It underlines how the contestation between Greece and Turkey has been encouraged and delimited by Euro-Atlantic imperialism.