“Greek Government Watches from the Sidelines”
Rena Dourou, president of SYRIZA–Progressive Alliance’s Parliamentary Group and the party’s shadow foreign minister, launched a sharp attack on the Greek government over its handling of relations with Turkey in a statement issued on August 20, 2026.
Dourou accused the government of lacking a coherent national strategy toward Turkey over the past seven years, arguing that this has allowed Ankara to systematically and provocatively challenge Greece’s sovereign rights.
According to her statement, Turkey has not retreated from what she described as the “illegal and revisionist Blue Homeland doctrine.” Instead, she argued, Ankara is seeking to consolidate its control in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean at the expense of international law.
“The Greek government has been reduced to the role of commentator and observer,” Dourou said.
She referred specifically to Turkey’s recent reaction to Greece’s new Special Spatial Planning Framework for Renewable Energy Sources. According to Dourou, Ankara once again invoked its “illegal theory of grey zones,” effectively attempting to force Athens to seek Turkish approval before taking any action in the Aegean.
She also rejected the Greek government’s narrative of “calm waters” in bilateral relations, describing it as domestic political propaganda that does not reflect what she sees as an escalation of Turkish challenges.
Dourou stressed that SYRIZA–PS remains committed to maintaining open channels of communication and dialogue with Turkey, but with clearly defined red lines. She also called for European sanctions whenever Ankara escalates its provocations and urged Greece to make full use of its international alliances in order to secure Turkey’s long-term commitment to both Greek–Turkish and EU–Turkey dialogue.
