Greece ‘relatively hopeful’ to further relations, dialogue with Türkiye

ATHENS

Greece is “relatively hopeful” to further relations and political dialogue with Türkiye, the country’s foreign minister has said.

“We have had a process of getting together, at least of resetting, a more sincere and frank relationship with Türkiye,” George Gerapetritis told Egypt’s Al Qahera TV in an interview on Aug. 3, which was released by the Greek Foreign Ministry on Monday.

Remarking that he and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan have developed a channel of communication, he said: “What we want to do is to try to promote a positive agenda with issues of common interest, such as trade, economy, civil protection, tourism, the overall development of the two countries, and then work on our relationships.”

Gerapetritis argued that the delimitation of maritime borders is a major difference between the two countries. “We are considering to refer this dispute to the International Court of Justice in the Hague,” he said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met in July during a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, and the meeting was hailed as a positive milestone by both countries.

A fresh round of talks of the Türkiye-Greece High-Level Cooperation Council is expected to be held in Thessaloniki this fall.

• George Gerapetritis
• Greece
• Turkiye