Greece underscores importance of communication channels established with Türkiye

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - The Greek foreign minister highlighted the importance of communication channels established between Türkiye and Greece.

“I think it is extremely important that, after a period in which we had relative difficulty in being able to communicate creatively, we have established an important channel of communication with the Turkish side,” George Gerapetritis said in an interview with Greek diaspora radio station Greek Voice, in Boston, according to the Greek Foreign Ministry.

“We have two governments that have a very fresh mandate from the electoral bodies and they have significant political capital to advance discussions,” he added.

Emphasizing that Greece wants to extend the prevailing calm atmosphere in the Aegean and Mediterranean, Gerapetritis said: “It is important that we should communicate with the opposite side without causing a crisis every time there is any difference or dichotomy.”

He said that the two countries are presently discussing improving cooperation in a number of areas, including dealing with climate change and its effects.

Greece and Türkiye then can proceed to find a resolution to the delimitation of maritime borders, which is the main problem between Greece and Türkiye, Gerapetritis remarked.

On Sep.20, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis affirmed the "positive climate" in bilateral relations during a meeting in New York.

The leaders also confirmed the roadmap and timeline of contacts between the two countries, as agreed at the meeting of the foreign ministers in Ankara on Sept. 5, which included meetings in mid-October of the deputy foreign ministers responsible for the political dialogue and the positive agenda, meetings in November for the confidence-building measures, and the meeting of the Türkiye-Greece High-Level Cooperation Council on Dec. 7 in Thessaloniki.