Athens would like to restart channels of dialogue with Ankara if the current climate of tensions is overcome, Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Kostas Fragkogiannis said on Sunday.
Despite the tension between Türkiye and Greece, the positive agenda discussed during the Turkish foreign minister's visit to Athens in May last year was "successful," Fragkogiannis said in an interview with Greek daily To Vima.
Fragkogiannis added that the positive agenda succeeded in creating a communication channel between the politicians and businesspeople of the two countries.
Following his visit to Athens in 2021, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said he discussed Türkiye-Greece relations comprehensively with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.
"We have now started to work on concrete projects focused on action and cooperation. We have reached a consensus in principle on 25 items," Çavuşoğlu told reporters at the time.
He also said that relevant Turkish and Greek institutions would come together in the near future to discuss cooperation in transportation, energy, tourism, trade, the environment and many other fields.
Stressing that the positive agenda between Türkiye and Greece is an initiative based on economic diplomacy, Fragkogiannis said: "I can say that it is considered successful even in the current conditions.
Despite the postponement of the next round of talks, the initiative has not been canceled, Fragkogiannis said, adding: "On the contrary, if there is an improvement in the overall climate, we want to activate these channels again."
Türkiye and Greece are at odds over a number of issues, including competing claims over jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean, overlapping claims over their continental shelves, maritime boundaries, airspace, energy, the ethnically split island of Cyprus, the status of the islands in the Aegean Sea and migrants.
Ankara accuses Athens of illegally militarizing Greek islands in the Eastern Aegean and questions Greece’s sovereignty over them. There is also a dispute over the exploitation of mineral resources in the Aegean.
The most recent incidents to have spurred tensions include two Greek coast guard boats opening fire on a cargo ship in international waters, continued pushbacks by Greek elements recorded by Turkish UAVs and the harassment of Turkish fighter jets on a NATO mission by Greece’s Russian-made S-300s.
It was reported recently that Turkish jets on a reconnaissance mission, flying in international airspace, were harassed by a Greek defense system stationed on Crete.
Türkiye planned to submit to NATO and its allies the radar logs showing how a Greek S-300 air defense system harassed Turkish F-16 jets during a mission in international airspace, sources said. Türkiye has also lodged a protest and demanded an explanation and investigation from Greece into an incident that was "totally in violation of international laws."