UPDATE: Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Recep Tayyip Erdogan made joint statements at this time after the meeting they had at the Maximos Palace in the presence of small delegations from Greek and Turkish ministers.
Starting off, Kyriakos Mitsotakis referred to crises such as the three-year pandemic, a war in the heart of Europe that caused an energy crisis and major energy disasters. But bilateral relations also experienced fluctuations. That is why it is extremely important that countries walk a more peaceful path. Greece and Turkey must seek solutions and if there is no agreement they must not automatically generate tensions and crises. In this direction in Vilnius we agreed to pick up the thread of cooperation. The road map we adopted included 3 levels including political dialogue and confidence building measures. We also meet 3 times in 6 months.
Regading immigration, we found a reduction in flows due to the guarding of the borders and the cooperation of the port police of the two countries.
Greece supports the facilitation of grants within the framework of the European acquis. In addition, Greece requested and secured EU approval to activate the possibility for Turks and their families to visit 10 of Greece’s islands all year round that either have refugee structures or have a sea connection with Turkey.
We disagree on the Cyprus issue, for Greece there is no solution beyond that of the United Nations and the dialogue must start from where it stopped in 2017.
100 years after the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, a declaration of friendship and good neighborly relations was signed, a relationship envisioned by Konstantinos Mitsotakis when he received the Ipectsi Grand Prize in 1997. The declaration signed absolutely respects the rights that derive from the sovereignty of each country.
The next step may be the approach for continental shelf and EEZ delimitation.
Erdogan’s statements
I feel great satisfaction to be in Athens again. I would like to thank the Prime Minister for his welcome.
We want to promote the positive relationship that exists. I believe we can hold this meeting once a year.
We agreed to increase bilateral trade to 10 billion.
Our wish is to solve common problems.
We discussed how to deal with international terrorism and we welcomed the closure of the Lavrio camp and I asked for attention to ensure that there are no similar camps that support terrorists.
The Turkish minority in Greece and the Greek community in Turkey are building blocks of our cultural wealth.
I expressed the expectations for the improvement of the situation of the Muslim minority in Western Thrace.
We have said from the beginning that we do not condone the targeting of civilians in Gaza.
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The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, went to the Maximos Palace, in order to meet with the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with whom they will then make statements.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed the Turkish president on the steps of Maximos having a short dialogue before they reached the entrance of the building for the formal photos.
The improvement in Greek-Turkish relations is expected to be reflected in the Declaration of Friendly Relations and Good Neighborhood that the two leaders will announce during their joint statements. It will be a text in the form of a joint communiqué for the Supreme Cooperation Council, which will describe the progress achieved in bilateral relations and the positive prospects that are foreseen, if the good relations continue. The text in question was elaborated in the previous days by the two foreign ministries and the diplomatic offices of the two leaders and is undoubtedly important, given where Greek-Turkish relations were at this time last year.
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The existence of the said text was revealed yesterday by Tayyip Erdogan himself speaking to Kathimerini and saying that he hopes it will be signed during his visit. According to the information, in the text there will be a reference to the preservation of the good neighborly relations. The text in question may not have the binding force of bilateral agreements, but it is in fact an agreement on an informal moratorium. At the same time, the dynamic development of Greek-Turkish relations in many fields will be highlighted.
The agreements and the next meetings
Based on the latest update from the Maximos Palace, Greece and Turkey will sign approximately 15 bilateral agreements and memoranda of cooperation between ministries, as well as organizations, such as Enterprise Greece. The agreements extend from immigration to the prospect of organizing a Hackathon by the two countries and will be announced after the Mitsotakis-Erdogan statements, without, however, any signing in front of the cameras. At the same time, according to the joint statements, it is expected that the granting of seven-day visas to Turkish citizens for visits to 10 Greek islands will also be announced.
Another key topic of discussion between Mr. Mitsotakis and Mr. Erdogan will be the continuation of bilateral contacts at all levels. Mr. Erdogan is expected to invite Mr. Mitsotakis to Turkey in the first months of 2024, while Hakan Fidan is expected to come here perhaps at the beginning of next year following the invitation of Giorgos Gerapetritis. The same applies to the Deputy Foreign Ministers Alexandra Papadopoulou and Costa Fragogianni who will be in Turkey for the political dialogue and the positive agenda respectively, given that their counterpart Burak Aktsapar had visited Athens in mid-October.
