Davutoğlu to visit Athens

EDIRNE - Hürriyet Daily News

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Dec. 30 he plans to visit Greece within weeks to discuss bilateral relations, strained after a senior retired Turkish politician hinted that Turkish agents torched Greek forests in the 1990s.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu did not give details on the timing of the visit but said it would take place within weeks. This would be a first Turkish official trip to Athens after the government change in Greece.

The Turkish foreign minister made the statement Dec. 30 as he passed the Greek border from Turkey’s Pazarkapı customs gate in Edirne where he chaired the last session of the Fourth Ambassadors
Conference.

During the visit to the Greek checkpoint, the local Greek commander called Greek Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos and let the two ministers talk on the phone. Both ministers agreed the “border gate is a bridge for peace and will continue to be in the future.”