Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, accompanied by ministers, was welcomed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on Wednesday.
Mitsotakis was in Türkiye for the 6th High-Level Cooperation Council that aims to improve occasionally strained ties between the two neighbors.
Erdoğan and the prime minister were scheduled to hold a joint news conference after their meeting.
It remains to be seen whether Mitsotakis’ visit will add further momentum to warming ties, especially after the prime minister said in an interview earlier this month that the dispute over the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean stood out as an obstacle to better ties.
Athens and Ankara have tried to overcome their differences in recent years, leaving behind a troubled past. Last month, diplomats from the two countries came together in the Greek capital for a “positive agenda” meeting.
Tensions have flared intermittently in recent years between the historic rivals, who remain divided over where their continental shelves begin and end in the Aegean, an area believed to hold significant energy potential and linked to disputes over airspace and overflights.
Last month, Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said Greece intends to extend its territorial waters, potentially including areas of the Aegean Sea, despite long-standing Turkish objections. Greece has already expanded its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea from 6 to 12 nautical miles following agreements with Italy, and it has signed a maritime delimitation deal with Egypt in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Greek Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lana Zochiou said on Tuesday the aim was "to assess the progress of bilateral cooperation" and "to keep communication channels open to defuse any potential crises.”
Ministers of the two countries will sign a series of agreements to strengthen bilateral ties and will exchange views on regional and global issues during Mitsotakis’ visit.
Burhanettin Duran, head of the Turkish Presidency’s Directorate of Communications, said last week that the meeting was expected to comprehensively assess ties between the two nations and discuss ways to further enhance cooperation between the two neighboring countries.
Regarding his meeting with Erdoğan during his Türkiye visit, Mitsotakis told Skai TV earlier this month that Greece and Türkiye did not need arbitrators or intermediaries to discuss bilateral issues. He hailed improvement in relations since the Athens Declaration was signed during Erdoğan’s visit to Greece in 2023.
Mitsotakis noted that resolving their dispute in maritime delimitation would bring Türkiye closer to the European Union, of which Ankara hopes to be a member. He warned, however, that the prevalence of “casus belli” in the Aegean would prevent Türkiye’s access to European funds. Mitsotakis, quoted by the Greek TV, admitted that Athens used the issue as “leverage” against Türkiye, so that Ankara would “abandon misguided claims.”
Türkiye recently extended the navigation warnings, known as Navtex, in the wake of Greece’s violation of Türkiye’s maritime borders. Mitsotakis, who was accused by the Greek opposition of remaining silent on the issue, hit out at the warnings and claimed they were illegal and Greece would not seek Türkiye’s permission for running projects in those waters, such as electrical interconnection projects.
