Türkiye, Greece seek to ease tensions as Fidan visits Athens

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is visiting Athens on Friday looking to build on newfound trust with his Greek counterpart Giorgos Gerapetritis as the two neighbors try to ease tensions. Fidan will meet Gerapetritis as part of a renewed diplomatic push to address complex and long-standing conflicts. They include volatile maritime boundary disputes that have badly strained relations between the two NATO members for decades.

“Step by step, we have achieved a level of trust so that we can discuss issues with sincerity and prevent crises,” Gerapetritis said in an interview published Thursday with Türkiye’s Hürriyet newspaper. In an interview with a Greek daily on Thursday, Fidan too praised the improved relations and said Türkiye's main mission was putting aside historical disputes between the two sides in an era of new challenges requiring regional unity. He said Türkiye's vision was turning the Aegean Sea, dividing two countries "into a sea of peace.

" The minister said critics of the rapprochement should know that the national interests of Ankara and Athens can only be achieved through friendship and cooperation. "Of course, to achieve this, we need to act realistically and make accurate diagnoses of our problems," he added. Friday’s meetings follow a series of high-profile talks between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as part of a fence-mending initiative launched last year.

Delimitation of maritime borders however is not the only problem. Officials in Athens are expected to raise concerns about rising illegal migration, as Greece has seen an uptick in arrivals. Ankara often accuses Athens of pushing back irregular immigrants crossing the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast.

And despite disagreements on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both foreign ministers are also expected to explore ways to improve regional stability. They will also likely discuss steps for a solution to the decades-old Cyprus division in which they are guarantors to Turkish and Greek Cypriot states. The talks will help set the stage for a Greek-Turkish high-level cooperation council planned for early 2025 in Ankara, Türkiye.

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