Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will visit Turkey on Monday for talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan aimed at maintaining the positive momentum achieved in bilateral ties in recent months despite lingering problems between the neighbors. Turkey and Greece, NATO allies and historic foes, have long been at odds over issues including maritime boundaries, energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean, flights over the Aegean Sea, and ethnically split Cyprus.
After years of tensions that brought the two to the brink of conflict, Ankara and Athens started taking high-profile steps to improve their ties in recent years, notably last year after both leaders were re-elected. A Turkish diplomatic source said Mr. Erdogan and Mr. Mitsotakis will discuss during Monday’s visit issues ranging from technology, tourism, and economic ties to counter-terrorism and migration, adding that a “Joint Business Council” would also be formed to bring together Turkish and Greek business people.
Mr. Erdogan visited Athens last December in what he described as a new era in ties, and the two countries signed the “Declaration of Athens,” aimed at setting the base for a roadmap to rebooting long-strained ties. They agreed to boost trade, keep communication channels open, carry out military confidence-building measures to reduce tensions, and work on problems that have kept them apart, namely in the Aegean Sea. “Since the [December] visit, in accordance with the meaning and spirit of the Declaration, by mutually building confidence, the two parties have aimed to create an atmosphere to allow for existing issues to be tackled in the appropriate way,” the diplomatic source said.
On Sunday, Mr. Mitsotakis told the Turkish daily Milliyet that his visit to Ankara—the first in five years—is an opportunity to evaluate the progress made in recent months and to reiterate Athens’ commitment to improving ties. “What we can change is our perspective. Instead of seeing a riddle that cannot be solved, we should focus on strengthening a positive agenda and seek cooperation between our two countries and our peoples,” he said.
