Ankara, Athens to resume confidence-building talks

Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, have agreed in a phone call on July 5 to resume confidence-building meetings halted last year, the Turkish Defense Ministry has announced.

The ministers also expressed their intention to meet during the upcoming NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius to discuss the matter, according to the ministry's statement.

During the call, Güler and Dendias congratulated each other on their new positions and extended their wishes for success, emphasizing the significance of maintaining a positive agenda in bilateral relations and keeping communication channels open.

The confidence-building negotiations were suspended in May 2022 during a period of escalated tensions between the two NATO member states, driven by conflicting territorial claims.

However, the phone call followed a series of steps taken to improve relations between the two neighbors, which had been strained due to similar territorial disputes, disagreements over maritime boundaries and differing political ideologies.

The recent gestures began after a devastating earthquake struck southeastern Türkiye in February, resulting in the loss of over 50,000 lives.

Greece was among the first countries to send rescue teams and offer aid to Türkiye following the tremors. At that time, then Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias paid a visit to Türkiye in a show of support. Dendias, a political moderate, moved to the Defense Ministry within Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' new cabinet last week to oversee an ongoing rearmament program that has antagonized ties with Türkiye.

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