By Derya Gulnaz Ozcan
ATHENS (AA) – A meeting this month between Turkish and Greek officials mediated by Germany has led to positive outcomes, according to Greek media outlets.
Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and Greek Prime Ministry Diplomatic Office Director Anna-Maria Boura’s talks on Dec. 16 in Brussels resulted in melting the ice between the neighbors, according to a report by CNN Greece.
The meeting took place in a sincere and warm atmosphere, the report said.
The Turkish side conveyed to the Greeks that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ speech to US Congress in May negated the understanding reached with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in March, the report said.
The Greek side countered by saying that Turkish warplanes flew over Greek islands 42 times just a few days after the two leaders sat down for talks, it added.
The report, however, concluded that the meeting in Brussels was significant as it brought together senior Greek and Turkish officials after a long time.
According to Greek daily Ta Nea, Athens wants to keep communication channels open with Ankara.
Greek Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, according to the newspaper, considers dialogue with Ankara a “logical and inevitable thing to do.”
The daily Kathimerini went a step further by saying that the Brussels meeting could lead to a resumption of high-level dialogue with Ankara.
Following the meeting between Kalin and Boura, which also included German Chancellery Foreign and Security Policy Adviser Jens Ploetner, a German government spokesman said additional talks are likely.
During his visit to Athens in October, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for dialogue between Türkiye and Greece to solve bilateral problems and de-escalate tensions in the Mediterranean.
He said good relations between Ankara and Athens are vital for the two countries, as well as NATO and all of Europe.
Türkiye, a NATO member for more than 70 years, has complained of repeated provocative actions and rhetoric by Greece in the region in recent months, including arming islands near Turkish shores that are demilitarized under treaty obligations. Ankara says that such moves frustrate its good faith efforts for peace.
* Writing by Ahmet Gencturk in Ankara