The great statesman Eleftherios Venizelos once said, in a country that almost always sees foreign policy issues from an emotional prism, that there are no national just rights, just national interests.

Still, over a century later many in the political system see the crucial issue of Greek-Turkish relations in emotional terms.

The same occurred with the 14 June Mitsotakis-Erdogan talks. The management of the relationship with our most difficult neighbour in the broader Eastern Mediterranean, however, requires realism.

Enthusiasm or pessimism are not good guides for the game on the international chessboard, which at every stage depends on many different factors.

Over the last decades Greece and Turkey had alternating periods of lesser or greater tensions. Hence, a coldly calculated approach to diplomacy is one of the greatest advantages and the Greek side should cultivate it.

Pragmatism is necessary also in analysing conditions and opportunities.

Ankara – as was confirmed by the Biden-Erdogan talks with bilateral relations tattered – will always be viewed as a crucial ally for the West, of which Greece is a part.

For Greece to promote its national interests it must fashion a strategy that will take into account aspects of reality that it does not like and the restrictions that they pose.

That way it can achieve its objectives, which naturally remain unchanged.

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