President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis have expressed hope that the new era following recent elections in their countries will be auspicious for better relations.
Erdoğan congratulated Mitsotakis on his reelection as Greece's Prime Minister in a phone call held on Monday, the Presidential Communications Directorate said.
During their talk, it was emphasized that strong governments, having gained the trust of their respective peoples in both countries, present an opportunity for the future of bilateral relations.
Mitsotakis' office also announced that the two leaders would meet on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Vilnius next month.
Last month, Erdoğan was declared the winner of a May 28 Turkish presidential election runoff with 52.18% of the votes, just two weeks after his electoral alliance also won a majority in parliament.
After a repeat election, Mitsotakis was sworn in for a second term as Greek prime minister. He had already won the election in May but refused to form a coalition government, which forced the country to hold another vote.
Earlier this month, the Greek premier promised to seek a reformulation of a roadmap with Erdoğan in Vilnius and argued that Athens recognized maritime zone delimitation as the only outstanding issue with Türkiye.
Besides a centuries-long rivalry and energy exploration disputes, territorial claims over the islands in the Aegean have been one of the most prickling issues Türkiye and Greece have locked horns over for years, and it appears no closer to a solution.
However, the two neighbors, both situated on seismic fault lines, also have a tradition of helping each other during natural disasters, something that made diplomatic ties flourish since tragedy struck the two countries earlier this year.
When two catastrophic earthquakes shook southern Türkiye and left over 52,000 dead, Greece was among the first countries to convey its condolences and offer aid, which Türkiye reciprocated after the train incident that claimed 57 lives near the northern Greek town of Tempi on Feb. 28.
Then-Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias was one of the first top diplomats to visit Türkiye after the earthquakes, too, and received a warm welcome when he met then-Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu to reiterate his country's support for humanitarian relief.
The tragedy also prompted the first contact between Mitsotakis and Erdoğan after the latter had said Mitsotakis "no longer exists" for him when he lobbied to block a fighter jet sale to Türkiye during a trip to the United States last year.
On March 20, Çavuşoğlu and Dendias met in Brussels and pledged mutual support. They agreed that Türkiye would support Greece's campaign for a non-permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council in 2025-2026. Likewise, Athens will support Ankara's candidacy for secretary general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Officials on both sides have been hailing "a positive atmosphere" taking over bilateral relations since the tragedy struck. While it's unclear whether breaking the ice could reach political levels, officials say it "should be considered for the normalization of ties."
