This summer, well-heeled tourists from the Turkish coast on the opposite side of the Aegean Sea are arriving in droves to Skala Sikamineas on the northeast coast of Lesbos.
The two excellent fish restaurants on the coast are full, and Turkish is the main language to be heard at lunchtime.
Families with children from the Turkish city of Izmir, a group from the port city of Ayvalik who arrived on the brand-new catamaran connection, and a young couple from Istanbul are among those eating and drinking in this picturesque setting.
Isin and her boyfriend are visiting the island for the first time. “Friends told us a lot of good things about Lesbos, and we decided to come here for a few days,” Isin told DW.
The couple, from Istanbul, arrived by ferry from Dikili, loved the island’s beaches and taverns, and are determined to come back next summer.
The crossing takes just under an hour, the ticket costs €35 ($40), and in summer there are eight trips a day from Dikili to Mytilene, the island’s capital.
On the Greek side of the Aegean, the atmosphere is more relaxed for Turks who like to have a drink, or for Turkish women who want to sunbathe in their bikinis.
“I feel very comfortable here,” Isin said as her boyfriend poured an ouzo.
An affordable return ticket to Lesbos
In July alone, almost 29,000 tourists from Turkey visited Lesbos, and even more are expected in August.
Local restaurateurs are very happy with their guests from the neighboring country.
“They appreciate the good food, they like to drink our famous aniseed schnapps ouzo, they are not stingy, and most of them are very friendly and relaxed,” said Takis, who runs a tavern in Gera Bay.
“We are visited by the Turkish middle class, who are looking for a quiet place.”
Many Greek islands have become unaffordable for average earners on both sides of the Aegean, but Lesbos is not one of them: the island is now cheaper than the Turkish holiday destinations of Bozcaada, Bodrum, or Assos on the Aegean.
Can tourism heal the wounds of the past?
Since the rebellion of Greeks within the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century, which resulted in an independent Greece, and the Greco-Turkish War which ended in 1922, relations between the two countries are have become more friendly, in part due to tourism.
The people of Lesbos are no more or less nationalistic than the rest of Greece, but they increasingly have the opportunity to meet the “enemy” from across the sea in peace.
Turkish tourists on the streets of Mytilene are not perceived as invaders, but as welcome guests.
It was no coincidence that Nikos Giannakas, the deputy mayor of Mytilene responsible for tourism, enthusiastically awaited the arrival of the mayor of Balikesir in Turkey.
Ahmet Akin traveled to Lesbos on August 1 along with 150 tourists via the new catamaran route.
The new line is the eighth connecting Mytilene with Ayvalik and the eleventh overall between Lesbos and Turkey, including routes to and from Izmir and Petra.
According to Giannakas, the new Mytilene-Ayvalik line will help boost tourism and trade between Lesbos and Turkey, give travelers more options, and strengthen cross-border relations.
Last year, around 120,000 people came to Lesbos by boat from Turkey, and they would like to welcome even more visitors in 2025.
Can goodwill from tourism help ease tensions?
Tourism and cooperation on refugee and migration issues are the only enduring success stories in Greek-Turkish relations since Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a friendship and cooperation agreement between Greece and Turkey in December 2023.
In theory, both governments have the political will to discuss the thornier issues in bilateral relations.
These include the demarcation of maritime borders between the two countries — but so far, nothing has come of it. Right now, neither Athens nor Ankara is ready to compromise.
There are ongoing minor disputes over airspace and territorial waters.
Turkey demands it should be consulted on Greece’s plans to lay a power cable between Crete and Cyprus.
When it is not asked, it sends its warships to the Aegean Sea, as was the case off the coast of Kasos in the fall of 2024.
The latest tensions between the two countries peaked on July 21 when Athens announced that it would establish two new marine parks in the Ionian Sea and the southern Aegean.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry was quick to react, noting that “unilateral measures in closed or semi-closed seas such as the Aegean and the Mediterranean should be avoided.”
In fact, marine parks are solely for environmental protection, but behind every map of the Aegean presented by Greece or Turkey, the other side sees a provocation.
Ankara reacted immediately on August 2 when officials presented maps of its own “protected marine areas” in the northern Aegean and eastern Mediterranean from Rhodes to the Gulf of Antalya.
The Greek Foreign Ministry struck back, describing Turkey’s announcement as “an unacceptable, unilateral, and illegal act that has no legal effect on Greek sovereignty and constitutes a complete disregard for international maritime law.”
Turkish tourists on Lesbos, however, are not bothered by these rumbling political disputes — they are too busy enjoying the beauty of the island.
This article was originally published in German.
