Turkish PM cancels visit to Greek capital due to illness

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Erdogan was scheduled to attend the opening of the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

According to the Greek government's statement, Erdogan himself phoned his counterpart, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, early Saturday afternoon to inform him he would not be able to make the trip.

"Mr. Erdogan expressed to Mr. Karamanlis his wish to visit Athens soon, so they can visit the museum together," the statement added.

Erdogan confirmed the statement saying he had to cancel his Greece program. "We had to cancel our program for Greece trip. We are going to travel Istanbul after our works here," he told at his Justice and Development Party's, or AKP's, meeting in the western province of Izmir.

He also canceled his trip to the eastern province of Kahramanmaras scheduled for Sunday, the state-run Anatolian Agency reported. The report said the cancellation came due to an unspecified illness.