Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias Wednesday said Athens was expecting to move on to discussing vital issues with Türkiye following elections in both countries next month.
Emphasizing that the current calm atmosphere in Turkish-Greek relations will not have an "expiration date," Dendias told public broadcaster ERT that "after the elections, we will return to a serious discussion to resolve our differences."
He warned the discussions should start as soon as new governments are formed in both countries after the polls to take advantage of the current momentum.
Asked whether the discussions with Türkiye would be in the form of exploratory talks, Dendias said the previous 63 rounds of such talks did not yield the desired results, adding, "If there is no convergence on major matters, the solution cannot be provided by a different process in minor matters."
On the possibility of seeking solutions to disputes between the two NATO allies through a multilateral conference, he stressed it is very unlikely.
Dendias also said that a pro-Western oriented Türkiye is in the interest of every concerned side, including Greece.
Regarding the matter of the demarcation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zones (EEZs) between Greece and Albania, he expressed hope for significant developments within this year.
Dendias said the Albanian government is preparing to sign the deal and submit it to the president for approval.
After years of escalation in tensions between the two neighbors, the diplomatic climate changed course swiftly and significantly after twin earthquakes shook southeastern Türkiye on Feb. 6, affecting some 13.5 million people and killing over 50,000.
Despite territorial and energy disputes exacerbating regional tensions, the two neighbors, located on seismic fault lines, also have a tradition of helping each other in times of natural disasters and Greece was among the first countries to convey its condolences and offer aid after the disaster.
Türkiye, in return, became the first country to offer condolences and aid when a tragic train accident claimed dozens of lives near the northern Greek town of Tempi on Feb. 28.
Ankara also allowed a Greek inmate who lost his son in the accident to attend the funeral in Greece and eventually transfer to a Greek prison.
Diplomatic contact has flourished as well, with the tragedy prompting the first contact between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in months and a series of meetings between senior officials who promised to shelve disputes that have caused repeated rounds of tension and even heightened risks of war over decades.
Dendias and Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu came together in Brussels on March 20 for a meeting that produced a major announcement of support for international agencies. Greece pledged to back Türkiye's candidacy for the position of secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and Ankara did the same for Athens' bid for a nonpermanent seat in the U.N. Security Council in 2025-2026.
During the latest major visit, when Greece's defense chief, Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, came to Ankara, he and National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar shared warm messages of amity as Akar said: “I sincerely believe that Türkiye and Greece can peacefully resolve their issues. We are two neighbors that have a multidimensional friendship like the multidimensional problems. We hope we can engage in dialogue without waiting for another disaster.”
Türkiye and Greece have often locked horns over several issues, including competing claims to jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean, overlapping claims over their continental shelves, maritime boundaries, airspace, energy, the ethnically split island of Cyprus, the status of the islands in the Aegean Sea and migrants.
In separate remarks earlier this week, Dendias also informed Athens would welcome new members of an association of nations in the Eastern Mediterranean who cooperate on natural gas development. The current members of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum are the Greek Cypriot administration, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
Türkiye is currently not a member.
“We would welcome the participation of other countries in this forum, but on one obvious condition: Respect for international law and respect for the international maritime law,” Dendias said.
Türkiye has disputed areas of potential gas reserves claimed by Greece in parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. In 2020, the two countries held competing naval exercises in the area as tensions spiked.
Türkiye, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected maritime boundary claims of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, stressing that these exaggerated claims violate the sovereign rights of both Türkiye and Turkish Cypriots.
In November 2019, Türkiye and Libya signed a maritime delimitation deal that provided a legal framework to prevent any fait accompli by regional states. Accordingly, attempts by the Greek government to appropriate huge parts of Libya's continental shelf, when a political crisis hit the North African country in 2011, were averted.
The agreement also confirmed that Türkiye and Libya are maritime neighbors.
In response, Egypt and Greece signed an agreement in August 2020, designating an EEZ in the Eastern Mediterranean between the two countries.
Maritime zones give rights to states over natural resources. The Eastern Mediterranean, largely unexplored, is thought to be rich in natural gas.
Türkiye will hold elections on May 14, and Greece a week later.
