President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has congratulated his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis on his birthday in a phone call, the Turkish Presidency said Monday.
Mitsotakis, who has been the prime minister of Greece since 2019 and the head of his New Democracy party since 2016, turned 56.
The Greek leader was also among dozens of world leaders who congratulated Erdoğan who himself turned 70 on Feb. 28.
The unexpected exchange comes as a rare moment of cordiality between the Aegean neighbors and NATO allies who are historic rivals on a number of issues. The pair, however, has been taking steps for normalization since last year, notably with Erdoğan’s landmark visit to Athens in December.
Mitsotakis is due to pay Ankara a reciprocal visit this May.
