Greek and Turkish foreign ministers discuss preparations for Mitsotakis-Erdogan meeting

Greek Foreign Minister Georgos Gerapetritis met with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Ankara on Tuesday.

The main purpose of the personal meeting, which lasted two days, was to prepare for the meeting of the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan within the UN Assembly in New York, as well as the meeting of the Supreme Cooperation Council of Greece and Turkey, which will be held in Thessaloniki in December 2023 of the year.

The foreign ministers of the two countries met for talks aimed at improving ties between NATO allies, which are at loggerheads over decades of disputes. At a meeting in Ankara on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Georgios Gerapetritis and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan decided on the resumption of political dialogue, a positive agenda and confidence-building measures.

Joint Statements

Turkish Foreign Minister Georgios Gerapetritis noted that it is important to build on what unites us and better understand what divides us.

He added that they had agreed that the roadmap would consist of the following three levels:

1. First, the level of political dialogue, which will begin on October 16 from the Greek side with the participation of Deputy Minister Alexandra Papadopoulou.
2. Second, the implementation and strengthening of confidence-building measures in the near future.
3. Thirdly, the level of negotiations to promote a positive cooperation agenda in sectors such as investment, agriculture, tourism, trade, shipping, the climate crisis, which will begin under the leadership of the responsible Deputy Minister Kostas Fragogiannis.

The task of the two ministers is as follows: to resolve the acute issues that will arise between the two countries and relieve tension in order to prevent possible dangerous situations. Guide the negotiations between the two parties at all levels: political dialogue, a positive agenda and confidence-building measures to ensure constant monitoring, a unified approach and a high degree of ownership for useful and tangible results. Prepare meetings between the leaders of the two countries in order to have a permanent strong political mandate and legalization at the highest level.

Important milestones, as Herapetritis said, will be, first of all, the meeting of Mitsotakis and Erdogan on September 18 and the organization, after 7 years, of the Supreme Cooperation Council in Thessaloniki before the end of the year.

For his part, Fidan stressed that “we have opened a positive period,” noting that it began with the meeting between Mitsotakis and Erdogan in Vilnius. He also said that they share the same views on resolving differences through dialogue.

reference Information

The talks between the two ministers took place in a friendlier atmosphere as Greece sent aid to Turkey after the devastating earthquake earlier this year and Turkey expressed its condolences over the deadly Greek railway accident. The meeting comes at a time when Ankara, which is in an economic downturn, is seeking to reset its often volatile relations with Western countries. This comes after a rare meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius this July.

There are disagreements between the two neighbors over territorial claims in the Aegean, energy exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean, and the ethnic division of Cyprus, among other issues. Tensions arose in 2020 over exploratory drilling rights in the Mediterranean, where Greece and Cyprus claim exclusive economic zones, leading to a naval standoff.

In recent years, Turkey has accused Greece of stationing troops on islands in the Aegean off the Turkish coast, in violation of treaties. Greece says it needs to defend the islands from a possible Turkish attack, noting that Ankara maintains a significant military force on the Turkish west coast. Turkish officials said further militarization of the islands could lead to Turkey questioning their ownership, and Erdogan went so far as to threaten to send a missile at Athens.

Last year, Erdogan vowed never to speak to Mitsotakis, angry at the Greek leader who, during a visit to the US, urged Washington not to sell F-16 fighters to Turkey.

sources: amna, AP

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