© Reuters. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis shakes palms with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan throughout a press convention on the Maximos Mansion in Athens, Greece, December 7, 2023. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
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By Angeliki Koutantou and Tuvan Gumrukcu
ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece and Turkey on Thursday agreed to reboot their relations, establishing a roadmap designed to usher in a brand new period of nearer ties between the 2 NATO allies however historic enemies.
In a landmark go to of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to Greece, the longtime sparring companions agreed to deal with pursuing good neighbourly relations, preserve open channels of communication, search army confidence-building measures to eradicate sources of pressure, increase commerce volumes and work on points which have saved them aside, notably within the Aegean Sea.
“There is no such thing as a difficulty between us that’s unsolvable. As long as we deal with the massive image and do not find yourself being like those that cross the ocean and drown within the river,” Erdogan stated after a gathering with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens.
“We need to flip the Aegean right into a sea of peace. Via the joint steps we are going to take as Turkey and Greece, we need to be an instance to the world,” he added.
After customary verbal jousting over latest years, chilly relations between the 2 neighbours thawed markedly after Greece swiftly dispatched support within the wake of a devastating earthquake in Turkey in February.
By Greco-Turkish requirements, Thursday’s summit was a exceptional lovefest with out priority, and a far cry from Erdogan’s final go to in 2017 the place each side reeled off a litany of historic grievances stretching again to the crumbling days of the Ottoman Empire over a century in the past.
The assembly of Mitsotakis and Erdogan went on longer than anticipated, and Mitsotakis addressed Erdogan as “Expensive Tayyip”. Erdogan stated he anticipated to obtain Mitsotakis in Ankara.
The NATO allies need to elevate bilateral commerce quantity to $10 billion from $5 billion, whereas Erdogan stated each nations may benefit from high-level conferences held yearly.
‘HISTORICAL RESPONSIBILITY’
“Geography and historical past has dictated that we dwell in the identical neighbourhood … However I really feel a historic accountability to utilise this chance to carry the 2 states side-by-side, simply as our borders are,” Mitsotakis stated.
Each nations need to reveal that they’re keen to restore their relations.
Turkey has been in search of EU membership for greater than twenty years. Following a debt disaster that rocked the euro foreign money zone, Greece goals to regain its footing and seem as a pillar of japanese Mediterranean stability in a geopolitical surroundings altering as a result of battle in Ukraine and the Gaza battle.
Greece and Turkey have lengthy been at odds over points together with the place their continental cabinets begin and finish, power sources, flights over the Aegean Sea, and the ethnically partitioned island of Cyprus.
On Thursday, Greece re-established an computerized visa system for Turkish nationals to go to 10 of its islands.
Mitsotakis stated conferences would proceed and an additional step within the relaunched bilateral dialogue could possibly be coming nearer to a deal to demarcate continental cabinets and associated financial exploitation zones (EEZ) – when circumstances permit.
An offshore EEZ could possibly be a precursor to exploration of oil or gasoline. Additional east, in direction of Israel, the japanese Mediterranean basin has yielded among the world’s largest finds in recent times.
The 2 nations got here to the brink of battle within the Nineteen Nineties, and in recent times have argued over power sources within the Jap Mediterranean, defence points, migration and the acquisition of fighter jets, which interrupted cooperation talks.
However “earthquake diplomacy” – recalling one other thaw beneath related circumstances in 1999 – seems to have turned the tide, once more.
Placing an upbeat tone, Erdogan stated Turkey and Greece ought to deal with the positives, and fewer on the negatives.
“It is going to be way more helpful for the longer term if we take a look at issues from a glass half-full perspective,” Erdogan toldGreek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.