Turkey’s overseas minister visits Athens to assist mend ties between the regional rivals

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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Latest efforts to easy the steadily unstable ties between neighbors and regional rivals Greece and Turkey are bearing fruit, their overseas ministers stated Friday, as the 2 nations search methods to stop spats from escalating dangerously.

Regardless of each being members of NATO, Greece and Turkey have been at loggerheads for many years over an extended collection of points, together with advanced maritime boundary disputes that led them to the brink of struggle in 1987 and in 1996. In 2020, stress over drilling rights led to Greek and Turkish warships shadowing one another within the jap Mediterranean.

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Over the previous 16 months, the 2 sides have made concerted efforts to scale back tensions, with the Greek and Turkish leaders assembly six instances. Final December, the 2 nations signed greater than a dozen cooperation offers throughout a gathering in Athens between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“I’m not claiming that by the dialogue now we have developed, all the issues within the two nations’ relations have been magically resolved,” Greek International Minister George Gerapetritis stated in statements to the media after a gathering together with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Athens. The ministers didn’t take any questions.

“There have been certainly troublesome moments through the previous 12 months,” Gerapetritis stated. “However in all circumstances, there was a right away and trustworthy channel that prevented escalation.”

With two brutal conflicts raging within the wider area, in Ukraine and within the Center East, mending ties and stopping flare-ups in stress between the 2 neighbors has develop into all of the extra important.

“We’re working to grasp one another higher on vital points. The area we’re in has many issues,” Fidan stated. “Turkey and Greece want to have the ability to act with mutual belief on this troublesome geography. By way of a win-win method, we are able to contribute to the prosperity and peace of our individuals.”

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Regardless of the optimistic local weather, the 2 sides stay far aside on a number of the thornier points, notably on territorial rights within the Aegean Sea. The 2 disagree on the delineation of the continental shelf and unique financial zone, which determines exploitation rights for sources, in addition to on the extent of territorial waters.

Turkey has stated that any transfer by Greece to increase its territorial waters round its islands within the Aegean Sea from six nautical miles to 12 nautical miles, which Greece insists it has the best to do at any time, can be a trigger for struggle.

Turkey additionally doesn’t acknowledge that Greek islands off its borders have a continental shelf, whereas Greece insists that place is in contravention of worldwide regulation.

Athens insists the difficulty of the continental shelf and unique financial zone is the one dispute it has with Turkey and is prepared to deliver it to the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice in The Hague.

Friday’s talks “included the analysis of the circumstances for the beginning of a elementary dialogue for the delineation of the continental shelf and the Unique Financial Zone within the Aegean and the jap Mediterranean,” Gerapetritis stated. “It’s an preliminary, trustworthy method of a troublesome but additionally essential difficulty.”

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Fidan careworn that every one areas of disagreement linked to the Aegean, the ocean that lies between the 2 nations, should be tackled.

“There are various issues which are interconnected within the Aegean. These disputes can’t be lowered to the problems of the continent shelf and unique financial zones,” Fidan stated. “We should handle all points which have the potential to create tensions and crises on the premise of mutual respect and cooperation.”

“As Turkey, we proceed to defend the precept of equitable sharing within the jap Mediterranean,” he added.

Migration has been a supply of stress between the 2 nations for years. Tens of 1000’s of individuals make their method annually from Turkey to close by Greek islands, utilizing European Union-member Greece as a gateway to extra affluent nations within the 27-nation bloc.

Whereas 1000’s of migrants proceed to reach in Greece, risking typically deadly sea crossings, the 2 ministers careworn the necessity to crack down on unlawful migration and smuggling networks.

The 2 “emphasised the significance of appearing collectively to fight irregular migration,” Fidan stated.

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Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, contributed to this report.

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