Akar: Greece continues to provoke and escalate tensions against Turkey
Search for:
Speaking to army officers in southeastern Turkey, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, said in reference to the Aegean and East Mediterranean: “To this day, we continue pursuing an extremely sensible and prudent policy without hesitation.”
“We are not in favour of escalating tensions,” he said, adding that Turkey would always state its good intentions.
This was said just days after Turkish Coast Guard vessels violated Greek maritime territory and even crashed in a Greek patrol boat.
“Despite our constructive, positive, peaceful and clear stance on talks, unfortunately the provocative actions of our Greek neighbours continue escalating the tension,” the minister said without providing examples.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades in their meeting today in Nicosia took a joint position on the Cyprus issue.
Greece and Turkey to begin exploratory talks on January 25
Search for:
The 61st first round of exploratory contacts between Greece and Turkey will start on January 25 in Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολη, Turkish: İstanbul), the Greek Foreign Ministry announced.
A few hours ago, the Turkish side contacted Greece and proposed that the 61st round of Exploratory Contacts take place in Istanbul on January 25, 2021.
Athens accepted the invitation.
Earlier today, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavuşoğlu said
“We call on Greece for the first meeting of exploratory contacts in January,” as reported by
However, this was a public statement rather than an official invitation from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, hence the delay in the invitation being accepted.