Greece, Turkiye vow to work on improving relations

ATHENS: Greece and Turkiye on Thursday restarted high-level talks to reduce chronic tensions in their relations as the Turkish president visited Athens for the first time in six years.

“There is no problem that cannot be solved between us,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a media appearance with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, adding that he wanted to turn “the Aegean into a sea of peace and cooperation.”

“We want to further develop the positive momentum in our relations,” Erdogan said. Erdogan was in Athens for the first time since 2017 after a long period of tension marked by disputes over migration, energy exploration in the Aegean and territorial sovereignty.

Erdogan had earlier questioned century-old treaties that set out Aegean sovereignty, and Turkish and Greek warplanes regularly engage in mock dogfights in disputed airspace.

The discovery of hydrocarbon resources in the eastern Mediterranean has further complicated ties, with Ankara angering Athens in 2019 by signing a controversial maritime zone deal with Libya.

Last year, Erdogan accused Greece of “occupying” Aegean islands and threatened: “As we say, we may come suddenly one night.” The tension prompted Mitsotakis to announce a military buildup in naval and air force equipment, and sign defensive agreements with France and the United States.