In Skala Sikamineas on the northern coast of Lesbos, where in 2015 boats with refugees from Syria arrived daily, this summer mainly wealthy tourists from the opposite Turkish coast of the Aegean Sea come. The two luxury fish restaurants on the coast are always full, at lunchtime mostly Turkish speech is heard there. The visitors - a group of tourists from the port city of Ayvalık, who arrived with the newly opened catamaran connection, a young couple from Istanbul, families with children from Izmir...
It is the first time for Isin and her boyfriend on the Greek island. “Friends told us a lot of good things and we decided to come for a few days“, she tells DW. The couple from Istanbul are enchanted by the island's beaches and taverns and are determined to come back next summer.
The boat trip, which takes about an hour, costs 35 euros, and in the summer there are eight boats a day from Dikili on the Turkish coast to Mytilene in Greece on Lesbos.
In July 2025 alone, Lesbos welcomed nearly 29,000 Turkish tourists, and by the end of August the number is expected to increase. Local hoteliers and restaurateurs are happy with the guests from neighboring Turkey. "They appreciate good cuisine, they like to drink our aniseed brandy, Ouzo, they are not stingy, and most of them are very friendly and relaxed," says Takis, who runs a tavern in Gera Bay. "We are mostly visited by middle-class Turkish people looking for a quiet place to relax," he says.
Lesbos is still a relatively cheap destination
Many of the Greek islands have become too expensive for middle-income earners on both sides of the Aegean Sea, but Lesbos is not one of them. Holidays on the island are now cheaper than in the Turkish Aegean resorts of Bozcaada, Bodrum or Assos. And there is something else: for those who love to drink, as well as for Turkish women who want to tan on the beach in bikinis, the atmosphere in Greece is much more relaxed. "I feel very good here," says Isin, while her boyfriend pours himself an ouzo.
Skala Sikamineas is a small village, 50 km from Mytilene. Greek Pinelopi chose this place to open a pottery shop, but this summer there are not too many Turkish tourists.
“The exchange rate is becoming increasingly unfavorable for the neighbors and only a few can afford such a purchase“, she says, explaining: “My pots are not particularly expensive, but both the Turks and we Greeks are experiencing financial difficulties“.
Inflation in Turkey is measured in large double digits, while in Greece it is only 3.7%.
Can tourism heal old wounds?
Over 200 years have passed since the Greek revolution in 1821, and since the “population exchange“ between Turkey and Greece in 1922 – over 100 years. At that time, thousands of Greek refugees from Asia Minor found refuge on the island of Lesbos, and most of the Turks who inhabited the island at that time were forced to emigrate to the opposite Turkish coast. People on both sides of the sea could only see their homelands from a distance for decades.
Today, relations between the descendants of the former exiles are mostly friendly - mainly due to the tourism that connects them. Therefore, Turkish tourists on the streets of the main city of Mytilene are not seen as invaders, but as good guests.
Numerous ferry connections
Meanwhile, there are eight ferry connections between Mytilene and Ayvalık, and between Turkey and Lesbos there are a total of 11. For comparison - between Lesbos and Piraeus there is one, sometimes two ferries per day, and between Lesbos and Thessaloniki - only one per week. Last year, nearly 120,000 people from Turkey arrived by sea on Lesbos. This year, they hope that the number will be even higher.
Unresolved issues remain
However, tourism and good cooperation on refugee and migration issues are the only lasting successes in the history of Greek-Turkish relations in recent years. Both governments have the political will to discuss some difficult bilateral issues, such as the definition of the maritime border between Greece and Turkey, but a compromise has not yet been reached. Although the tension between the two neighbors is no longer as explosive as in the summer of 2020, there are still some small local clashes in the air or sea space.
Author: Kaki Bali