2023-07-12 18:57:38
It is only eight months since Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatened Greece with rocket attacks and phrases like “One night we will come”. On the other hand, when the Turkish President met Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius, there were signs of relaxation. At their first bilateral meeting in 16 months, Erdoğan and Mitsotakis agreed to reopen several channels of talks that had been severed over disputes over sea borders and gas wells in the eastern Mediterranean. The next meeting of the so-called High Cooperation Council is to take place in Thessaloniki in autumn. As the Turkish President’s Office announced, the two foreign ministers were tasked with leading the process and reporting on progress.
Friederike Böge
Political correspondent for Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan based in Ankara.
Bilateral relations had recently come to a standstill at almost all levels. For example, a direct telephone connection between Erdoğan and Mitsotakis was cut. Before the meeting, Mitsotakis had spoken of a “roadmap” that should pave the way for a settlement of the dispute over the maritime borders. Greek media reported that the United States had been the “initiator” of the encounter. The defense ministers of both countries also met in Vilnius and agreed on a follow-up meeting to discuss confidence-building measures.
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