In the joint press conference following the bilateral meeting between the Greek delegation and the Turkish one in Smyrna, Turkey, within the framework of the Hellenic-Turkish ministerial Council, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras stated that the top priority at this point for both countries was to save the lives of those refugees crossing the Aegean Sea. On his part, Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu stressed that Greece and Turkey were bearing the brunt of  the consequences of the refugee crisis. He continued by expressing hope that the relations between the two countries would improve even further. Davutoglu added that investments from Turkish and Greek businesspeople should continue on both sides of the Aegean. Tsipras thanked his counterpart for the hospitality and connected the current refugee crisis with the city of Smyrna, which as he said was historically tied to refugee flows in the past. ‘Smyrna is a city that symbolises trade and brotherhood in the Aegean’, the Greek PM said. Tsipras added that they agreed to commence a direct air route between Athens and Ankara. The Greek PM also raised the issue of the increased number of violations of Greek airspace by Turkish fighter jets, stressing that the withdrawal of the ‘Casus Belli’ state from Turkey towards Greece would be a timely act in light of the current situation. Tsipras underlined that neither Greece orTurkey were the route of the refugee crisis. The two men also tabled other bilateral issues like the Cypriot problem. They both agreed to reaffirm and update the two countries’ plans for the readmission of ‘irregular’ migrants from Greece to Turkey. The two politicians will adopt a more effective course of action which would supplement the EU’s decisions on the refugee matter. Among the bilateral agreements sigjned by the two delegations were the maritime connection between the ports of Thessaloniki and Smyrna, the railway between Thessaloniki and Constantinople and agreements on closer tourism cooperation. The two leaders offered red roses to female journalists in a photo op, as a tribute for Women’s Day.