Greek businesses urge boycott of Turkish goods over Hagia Sophia reconversion

As Athens intensifies its diplomatic scramble to slap sanctions on Turkey over its reconversion of the Hagia Sophia into a mosque, Greek businesses have started a campaign to boycott goods and services from the neighbouring NATO ally country, U.S.-government funded news outlet Voice of America said on Sunday.

The trade boycott is a call by the Greek’s commerce world to hit back at Turkey while waiting on Athens-led efforts to counter the recasting of the former seat of the Orthodox Christian Church,  VoA quoted Vassilis Korkidis, a leading representative of commerce in Greece, as saying.

Greek consumers are being called to boycott Turkish goods, bearing the numbers 868 and 869 on the barcodes of imported products, Korkidis said.

A controversial decision by a top Turkish court on July 10 revoked the status of Istanbul's iconic cathedral, turning the 6th century building from a museum into a mosque.

The next day, Greece announced that it would be imposing sanctions against Turkey over the move and said it would also be pursuing sanctions levelled at the country from Europe and international organisations, such as UNESCO.

Trade relations between Turkey and Greece have seen a substantial increase in recent years, VoA said, with Greece’s annual exports to Turkey totalling approximately $1.6 billion, compared to $1.2 billion in imports from Turkey.

The call for trade boycott arrives as both the Greek and Turkish economy have been hard hit by the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We may enjoy a generous trade surplus,’’ Korkidis said.  "But when you factor in the resources that Greece has to pull together to fend off continued flows of illegal migration from Turkey, and the huge military costs now racking up to safeguard against Turkish provocations — well all of that wipes out any semblance of a surplus."

Turkey is also locked in disputes with both Greece over territorial waters in the Aegean and Mediterranean and migrants. A crisis erupted earlier this year when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, declared the doors to Europe were open and migrants free to cross into Greece.

Athens fears a fresh standoff on its Turkey border with Turkey after Ankara suggested migrants and refugees would shortly return to the frontier as the neighbouring countries ease pandemic travel restrictions.