Turkish, Greek leaders meet to bolster ties

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis arrived in Ankara for a one-day visit on May 13 for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to further improve bilateral ties  in line with the ongoing normalization process.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan welcomed the Greek premier at Esenboğa Airport, followed by a bilateral meeting at the Presidential Complex with Erdoğan.

Mitsotakis visited upon an invitation of President Erdoğan. Following the meetings, the two leaders are expected to announce a joint statement outlining the issues on which the bilateral ties will be built on in the coming period.

Erdoğan and Mitsotakis had released the Atina Declaration in December's visit to Athens by the former. Both sides underlined their commitment to comply with the declaration in exclusive interviews to each other's media outlets just before Mitsotakis' travel to Ankara.

Erdoğan, in an interview with Greek Kathimerini, underlined that Türkiye and Greece have launched a new era in ties and he had established a very good chemistry with Mitsotakis.

"Our target is obvious: To strengthen our friendship by resolving the problems and increase the level of our bilateral relations to an unprecedented level. As Türkiye, we have recently taken sincere and effective steps to this end and we have the intention to continue in this way," Erdoğan said.

Admitting difficult problems between the two nations, Erdoğan however emphasized the need for both neighboring countries to take tangible steps for peace and stability in the Aegean Sea. "It's easy to ruin. What is difficult is to build and manage the problems," he suggested.

Greek leader stresses 'dialogue'

On the other hand, Mitsotakis, in an interview with the...