Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan begins a landmark visit to Greece on Thursday.
The visit follows the arrests in Athens of nine Turkish nationals charged this week with being members of DHKP-C, a militant Marxist group that has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings in Turkey and the soldiers run to Greece after July 2016 coup.
Erdoğan, whose relations with Europe and the US have become strained amid growing condemnation of his crackdown on democratic institutions, has made few trips to the west since a foiled coup attempt against him last year and he has become increasingly isolated internationally. The visit would enable him to present himself publicly in international arena.
The visit will be closely watched, both by Washington and EU capitals. Diplomats will be keen to see if the Turkish leader uses Athens to issue yet another broadside against the west, or chooses to exploit the visit to mend fences by exhibiting a more conciliatory tone.
