Greece and Türkiye are preparing to convene their High-Level Cooperation Council in mid-February, with the meeting expected to coincide with talks between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan despite ongoing differences in the Aegean Sea.
Preparations for the council are currently at the top of the government agenda, Greek daily Kathimerini reported Tuesday citing government sources.
Established in 2010 following a Turkish initiative, the High-Level Cooperation Council provides an institutional framework for Türkiye and Greece to address bilateral issues and advance cooperation at the highest political level.
The planned talks come amid unease in Athens following Türkiye’s issuance of two long-term Navtex notices, which reiterate Ankara’s established positions in the Aegean. Türkiye has reaffirmed its views on licensing authority for research activities across wide areas of the sea, as well as on the status and demilitarization of certain islands, underlining its determination to defend what it considers its legitimate rights and interests.
Against this backdrop, prospects for rapid progress on longstanding disputes remain limited, Kathimerini said. Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis has said Athens maintains that the only issue it is prepared to discuss with Türkiye is the delimitation of the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone.
Even so, holding the council is seen as reinforcing a period of relative calm, with cooperation expected to advance in practical areas such as trade and transportation.
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.
Earlier this month, 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.
Athens has avoided similar moves in the Aegean, where Ankara has objected sharply. In 1995, the Turkish Parliament declared a casus belli, or cause for war, if Greece were to unilaterally extend its territorial waters beyond 6 nautical miles in the Aegean, a position Athens claims violates international maritime law.
Answering questions in Parliament on Friday, Gerapetritis said further expansion was expected but did not specify which maritime areas could be affected.
In July, Greece unveiled the boundaries of two planned marine parks in the Ionian and Aegean seas. The Aegean park, covering about 9,500 square kilometers (3,668 square miles) around the southern Cyclades islands, also drew objections from Ankara.
