Greek, Turkish military chiefs to keep 'open channel of communication'

The chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA), Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, and his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar on Wednesday agreed to keep "an open channel of communication" to curb tensions in the Aegean.

The two men met on the sidelines of a summit of military chiefs from Balkan countries that took place in Athens. Opening the summit, President Prokopis Pavlopoulos appeared to make a dig at Turkey and other countries with maximalist demands that aspire to join the European Union.

"Whoever wants to belong to the European family cannot only profess peace but must believe in it too," he said. Pavlopoulos also underlined the need for respect for history and international law.

No details of Apostolakis's talks with Akar were made public, but he did say "mutual explanations were given about the situation in the region."

"We agreed to...