Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan instructed Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitotakis there have been “no unsolvable issues” between their nations when the leaders met in Ankara.
Turkey and Greece have lengthy been at odds over points similar to maritime borders, vitality sources within the jap Mediterranean, flights over the Aegean Sea and the division of Cyprus.
Because the two leaders had been re-elected final 12 months, they’ve taken vital steps to enhance ties.
“Regardless of disagreements, we’re specializing in a optimistic agenda by retaining our channels for dialogue open,” Erdogan stated at a joint information convention with Mitsotakis on Monday.
“As we speak we confirmed that we are able to map a parallel facet of agreements alongside our confirmed disagreements,” Mitsotakis stated.
“Contemplating the numerous issues that unite us, we want to intensify our bilateral contacts within the coming interval.”
Mitsotakis reiterated that Greece helps Turkey’s accession to the EU “regardless of nice difficulties… on the situation that it integrates into the European acquis”.
Dissent from Hamas
The 2 leaders additionally mentioned Israel’s warfare in Gaza. Whereas they agreed {that a} long-term ceasefire was wanted, they seemed to be deeply divided over the standing of the Palestinian group Hamas, which guidelines Gaza.
Erdogan stated he was saddened by Greece’s stance, which considers Hamas a “terrorist” group.
The Turkish president stated at a joint press convention that greater than 1,000 members of the Palestinian group are being handled in hospitals throughout Turkey. Erdogan has repeatedly stated that Hamas is a “resistance motion”.
“Let’s conform to disagree,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated in response.
The group as a complete, or in some circumstances its navy wing, the Qassam Brigades, is designated a “terrorist” group by Israel, america, the European Union, Canada, Egypt and Japan.
On October 7, Hamas fighters led an unprecedented assault on Israel that killed at the least 1,139 individuals, largely civilians, based on Al Jazeera’s statistics primarily based on Israeli statistics, and captured about 250 others as prisoners.
Dozens of captives had been launched in trade for a whole lot of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails throughout a week-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in November, however Israel says dozens extra are nonetheless being held in Gaza.
Israel responded to the Hamas-led assault by launching a devastating warfare in Gaza that Palestinian authorities say has razed a lot of the territory, displaced greater than 80 % of the inhabitants and killed greater than 35,000 individuals, largely girls and kids.
Previous nuisance
Ties between Ankara and Athens have lengthy been strained, and the 2 nations have come to the brink of warfare 5 occasions in as many a long time. The pleasant assembly befell final 12 months when Erdogan visited Greece in an try to revive the connection with optimistic agreements.
However his earlier go to to the Greek capital in 2017 was a catastrophe. He after which Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos argued over the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which established the borders between the 2 nations.
Later, Erdogan and then-Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras traded accusations over the division of Cyprus. Erdogan blamed the Greek facet for 2 failed rounds of talks on the island’s reunification in 2004 and 2017.
Cyprus was divided between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities following communal clashes in 1964 and the Turkish invasion of the island 10 years later following a Greek-inspired coup.
Issues worsened after the go to in 2017. The next 12 months, Turkey introduced its Blue Homeland coverage, demanding sovereign business rights to mine the undersea wealth beneath 462,000 km2 (178,400 km²) of the Japanese Mediterranean, most of which Greece additionally claimed beneath worldwide maritime legislation.
In 2019, Turkey agreed to share a part of the jap Mediterranean with Libya, additional encroaching on what Greece thought-about its personal maritime jurisdiction. The European Union condemned the memorandum as “unlawful” beneath worldwide legislation.
Shortly thereafter, Greece unofficially warned Turkey that it could sink any Turkish exploration ship that tried to seek for undersea oil and fuel in an space it thought-about to be beneath its jurisdiction. Turkey referred to as Greece’s bluff the next January and allowed its ship the Oruc Reis to conduct surveys for per week southeast of Rhodes.
Greece despatched a frigate to look at the Oruc Reis with out attacking it, however the next summer time the Oruc Reis returned and your complete Greek navy was positioned on excessive alert within the Aegean inside hours. The Turkish Navy did the identical. The stalemate continued till August, when two frigates from opposing navies collided and the US referred to as for disengagement.
Hydrocarbons weren’t the one supply of friction. Erdogan allowed asylum seekers to storm Greek borders in 2020 and challenged Greece’s sovereignty over its jap Aegean islands in 2021. And Turkey has a relentless risk of warfare in opposition to Greece, ought to it attempt to prolong its territorial waters within the Aegean to 12 nautical miles, which Greece says is consistent with worldwide legislation.
The flip within the escalation was caused by two robust earthquakes that flattened Turkish cities in February 2023 and killed tens of hundreds of individuals.
Greece was the primary abroad search and rescue group to reach, and the international ministers of the 2 nations confirmed friendship by inspecting the wreckage collectively.
After elections in each nations in Might and June, the newly appointed international ministers met in Ankara in September, paving the best way for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Erdogan to fulfill two weeks afterward the sidelines of the United Nations Common Meeting.
