Foreign policies of conflicting groups in the context of political psychology: The case of Turkey-Greece

Problems between Turkey and Greece from the day Greece gained its independence in 1829, it has continued sometimes in friendship and sometimes in conflict. Although these problems were tried to be resolved with the 'Lausanne Peace Treaty' signed in 1923, the goals of Greece in the direction of the 'Megali Idea' left the solution of the problems insufficient. Thus, the problems that started to be experienced after independence were inherited by the Republic of Turkey with the Lausanne Peace Treaty, and in this case, they caused many problems. It is shaped by the relations between the Turkish and Greek nations starting from the Lausanne process, the problems arising from the common history of these relations and the perceptions formed as a result. The improvement of mutual policies and relations is possible as a result of the determination of the psychological factors underlying these perceptions. In this case, the evaluation of the historical problems between the Turkish and Greek nations within the framework of psychological factors constitutes the main theme of the thesis. Within the scope of this study, the psychological factors that hinder the bilateral relations between Turkey and Greece have been explained and the theory of Constructivism has been used to reach solutions. Identity was also used as a basic element in order to explain the relations between the two countries as psycho-historical and psycho-political. Keywords: Turkey, Greece, Political Psychology, Identity, Perception, Constructivism