With tensions running high again, Türkiye and Greece held a confidence-building meeting on Monday in Thessaloniki.
The Ministry of National Defense announced on Monday that delegations from the defense ministries were attending a two-day meeting as part of the 2025 implementation plan of the measures. Delegations will also discuss 2026 activities as part of the measures.
On Saturday, Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis stated in a newspaper interview that they were not considering suspending dialogue with Türkiye, despite disagreeing on the start of discussions on the delineation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zones between the two countries.
After a long period of tensions marked by disputes over irregular migration, the Cyprus dispute, energy exploration and territorial sovereignty in the Aegean, Türkiye and Greece have been taking confidence-building steps for a fragile normalization of their relations, which moved into a new chapter with Erdoğan’s landmark visit to Athens in 2023. During the visit, the sides announced a friendship declaration, visa facilitation for Turkish citizens to visit 10 Greek islands in the northern Aegean, and a decrease in the flow of irregular migrants to Greece.
While officials on both sides have expressed a commitment to maintaining the favorable climate, the issues are longstanding and deep-rooted, and neither side expects the process to be without turbulence, particularly in the Aegean, where Turkish and Greek jets have often clashed until very recently.
Tensions rose again recently with Athens’ new move raising further disputes.
Earlier this month, Greece released a marine spatial planning map, which Türkiye said violates its maritime jurisdiction in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.
“We would like to remind of the need to avoid unilateral actions in enclosed or semi-enclosed seas such as in the Aegean and the Mediterranean,” Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that, “International maritime law encourages cooperation between coastal states in the seas in question, including concerning environmental issues and that in this context, our country is always ready to cooperate with Greece in the Aegean Sea.”
Greece’s Foreign Ministry, on the other hand, said the Maritime Spatial Planning was separate from the delineation of the exclusive economic zone. Greece has agreements in place delineating its exclusive economic zones with Italy and with Egypt, but not with Türkiye.
