International police cooperation: The Turkish and Greek perspective

Transnational police cooperation is needed to combat evolving transnational threats today. It is suggested that bilateral police cooperation is the most effective and efficient way if it is fast, precise and easy. However, reciprocity and trust are essential for this type of cooperation. Greece and Türkiye are two countries with common threats due to their location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. They both have to deal with international drug trafficking, organized crime and human trafficking, and they have to cooperate when they share common borders. However, cooperation at the bilateral level is thought to have become challenging due to the known historical hostility and distrust that characterize them, but there is limited data in the literature analyzing police cooperation between these two countries. This research aims to examine the current state of cooperation and estimate the impact of hatred and mistrust on the issue by presenting the findings of a series of interviews with senior police officers and relevant stakeholders in both countries. In the study, data were collected from both countries, and special attention was paid to include police officers on active duty in border regions. Analysis of the data revealed that it was not possible to estimate the impact of distrust. Because it has been determined that there are groups of police officers who cooperate at a very high level, but there are also those who do not even want to think about cooperation. Although these results may seem contradictory, a closer examination of the data reveals the factors that cause these different attitudes. It has been concluded that within a real program, police departments of both countries can cooperate and, in this case, crime prevention and control mechanisms will be much more effective in the form of bilateral work.