With the aim of keeping the channels of communication open at the highest level, so that Greek-Turkish relations can progress to the next step, but also so that the two leaders can review progress in bilateral relations and in the areas of cooperation, The Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will visit Ankara tomorrow, Monday, where he will meet with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, responding to the invitation of the President of Turkey and reciprocating the visit of Mr. Erdoğan's visit to Athens last December, government sources said.

This is the prime minister's first visit to Ankara - in March 2022 he had been in Istanbul and had lunch with the Turkish president - but also the first visit by a Greek prime minister to the Turkish capital in the last five years, the same sources noted. Government sources recall that during the meeting of the High Cooperation Council between Greece and Turkey last December in Athens, the two leaders had adopted the Athens Declaration, while 15 Memoranda of Cooperation had been signed between the two sides. The same persons predict that during the meeting all the issues on the bilateral agenda are expected to be discussed, while the schedule of the next contacts in terms of political dialogue, positive agenda and Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) is expected to be set.

Government sources confirm that the Prime Minister will also raise with the President of Turkey the issue of the conversion of the Chora Monastery into a Muslim mosque. The same persons also point out that a new round of meetings has already taken place on the basis of the three axes agreed by the two leaders last July in Vilnius (political dialogue, Confidence Building Measures, positive agenda) and agreed by Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Recep Tayyip Erdogan at their last meeting. It should be noted that this is the fourth meeting between the Prime Minister and the President of Turkey since their re-election (the first one was held in July 2023 on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Vilnius, the second one in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and the third one in Athens last December).