Greek top diplomat due in Ankara for talks on bilateral, regional issues

ANKARA

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Türkiye has announced the visit by Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis to Ankara as ties between the two neighboring countries started to improve especially after the establishment of new governments in both nations.

Gerapetritis will pay a working visit to Türkiye on Sept. 5 as the guest of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, informed the Turkish Foreign Ministry in a written statement on Aug. 27.

“The two Ministers will discuss bilateral relations and regional issues,” it added.

Ankara and Athens have been exchanging warm messages in the last period with shared commitment to bettering ties and deepening bilateral cooperation. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had met on the margins of the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July where they agreed to hold the high-level Turkish-Greek cooperation meeting in Thessaloniki this fall. It is expected to be realized in October.

In Ankara, the two ministers are expected to discuss the preparations of the cooperation meeting which will cover all the aspects of bilateral economic, trade, transportation, energy and other issues.

Türkiye and Greece have long been at odds over overlapping claims on maritime boundaries in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. With the normalization of ties, both sides are issuing softer messages over these problems and underline the need for dialogue to resolve them.

Fidan and Gerapetritis are expected to highlight these issues during their meeting. The Cyprus problem and other regional issues, particularly the ongoing Russian occupation of Ukraine will also be on their agenda.

The normalization process has been much more visible and effective following Greece’s assistance to Türkiye following the devastating earthquakes that killed more than 50,000 people in February in southern Türkiye.