In a much-anticipated visit, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis arrived in Ankara on Monday for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan led a Turkish delegation welcoming him at Esenboğa Airport. Mitsotakis then proceeded to the Presidential Complex. A previously announced welcoming ceremony at the complex was apparently scrapped as Erdoğan and Mitsotakis immediately launched their bilateral meeting. A joint news conference was scheduled after their meeting, before a dinner hosted by Erdoğan.
In an interview with a Turkish newspaper prior to his visit, Mitsotakis stressed that they were committed to improving relations with Türkiye. "Greek-Turkish relations are complex and shaped by history and emotions. That will never change. What we can change is our perspective: Instead of seeing an unsolvable puzzle, we should focus on strengthening a positive agenda and seek cooperation between our two countries and our peoples,” he told the Milliyet newspaper. He added: "We owe it to the Greek and Turkish peoples and the next generations to continue on a constructive path. And we have a responsibility as leaders sharing the same region, to be forces of regional stability, not confrontation."
Türkiye and Greece, NATO allies and historic foes, have long been at odds over issues including maritime boundaries, energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, flights over the Aegean Sea and ethnically split Cyprus.
After years of tensions that brought the two to the brink of conflict, Ankara and Athens started taking high-profile steps to improve their ties in recent years, notably last year after both leaders were reelected.
A Turkish diplomatic source said Erdoğan and Mitsotakis will discuss during Monday's visit issues from technology, tourism and economic ties to counterterrorism and migration, adding a "Joint Business Council" would also be formed to bring together Turkish and Greek businesspeople.
Erdoğan visited Athens last December in what he described as a new era in ties, and the two countries signed the "Declaration of Athens," aimed at setting the base for a road map to rebooting long-strained ties.
They agreed to boost trade, keep communication channels open, carry out military confidence-building measures to reduce tensions and work on problems that have kept them apart, namely in the Aegean Sea. "Since the (December) visit, in accordance with the meaning and spirit of the declaration, by mutually building confidence, the two parties have aimed to create an atmosphere to allow for existing issues to be tackled in the appropriate way," the diplomatic source said.
Erdoğan, speaking to the Greek daily Kathimerini on Sunday, said the main goal was to "raise the level of our bilateral relations to unprecedented heights," adding the neighbors had many issues they could agree on while seeking solutions to their problems.
He said his December visit to Athens was the "highest point in ties," stressing that existing issues should not derail the progress made in other areas and that problems between the two sides could be solved via compartmentalization.
Despite the positive mood, the allies remain at loggerheads over several existing issues, namely maritime jurisdiction in the Mediterranean, as well as new ones.
Greece's plan to build a new marine park in the Aegean Sea, which it says is for environmental purposes, has upset Türkiye, while Athens said it was disappointed by the Turkish decision to revert the ancient Chora church, or Kariye Mosque, previously converted to a museum from a mosque, into a mosque.
"Disagreements apparently remain. The important thing is that they do not lead to crises," a Greek government source said.
