It is the first meeting between Mitsokatis and Erdogan since the Turkish president declared the Greek prime minister persona non grata. Now the “positive climate” is to be expanded.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on rapprochement between the two warring states on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Lithuania on Wednesday.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between the two since Erdogan declared Mitsotakis persona non grata in June 2022. Since then, relations between Turkey and Greece had steadily deteriorated.
Communication channels should be reactivated
Relations only began to improve after the severe earthquake in Turkey last February, when Greece and other countries immediately rushed to help. This was also evident in Vilnius: “Both sides agreed to build on the positive momentum (of the past few months) and to reactivate numerous communication channels between the two countries in a timely manner,” said Mitsotakis’ office in Athens. The Turkish Presidential Office said in the afternoon that it would be advantageous for both countries if the current positive climate in bilateral relations was expanded.
The agreement even seems to go so far that they want to exchange views at the highest level of government. In autumn, a meeting is to take place in the northern Greek port of Thessaloniki, in which not only the most important ministers but also Erdogan and Mitsotakis will take part. Both sides emphasized that they look forward to more frequent contacts at all levels in order to improve mutual relations, Ankara said. Athens also announced that it would like to have more frequent contacts at all levels in order to create a climate of trust.
Controversy for many years
Athens and Ankara have been at odds over sovereign rights and natural gas deposits in the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean for many years. Last year, Erdogan repeatedly threatened to invade Greek islands because Greece had militarized them in violation of international treaties. Athens, on the other hand, criticized the threats and complained, among other things, about numerous illegal overflights of Greek territory by Turkish fighter jets.
Office of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis Turkey Presidential Office tweet
Source: Stern
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