The rapprochement process between Turkey and Greece, like many other aspects of their relations, has been an attractive topic for scholars. There exists a large number of studies investigating this process from different perspectives. Analysing all of these studies in detail is beyond the scope of this chapter; however, it is possible to classify them within four main categories: the impact of the earthquakes and the empowerment of civil society; the Europeanisation process in both Turkey and Greece; the role of the two solution-oriented ministers of foreign affairs; and, finally, the role of third parties. The following sub-sections will briefly focus on each explanation in order to familiarise readers with the context, as well as to show that it is possible to explain the same period through the different forms of desecuritisation.

Earthquakes and the Empowerment of Civil Society

Turkey and Greece experienced the same destiny in August and September of 1999, respectively, when disaster struck both countries. İzmit, an industrialised town in western Turkey, was hit by a powerful earthquake on 17 August 1999. The earthquake and its aftershocks left approximately 20,000 people dead and more than 50,000 injured. Immediately after the earthquake, as did many other countries, Greece sent to Turkey several teams on a transport plane of the Greek Air Force, including two medical aid teams of eleven nurses and twenty-five fully equipped rescue teams with sniffer dogs and emergency supplies (Hürriyet, 18 August 1999). In fact, this was not the first time that Greeks had given support, as Greece had also sent relief aid and nongovernmental relief teams to conduct search-and-rescue operations and provide medical care in Turkey immediately after the Erzincan and Dinar earthquakes in 1992 and 1995, respectively (Ganapati et al., 2010, 165). In addition to the efforts of the rescue teams, the Greek public also tried to help the earthquake victims in Turkey by raising money and donating food, medicine and other items (Ker-Lindsay, 2000, 221).

Just twenty-two days after the İzmit earthquake, on 7 September 1999, Athens was hit by an earthquake that killed hundreds of people and injured hundreds more.