The Greek and Turkish leaders will meet next month, the two countries’ foreign ministers agreed on Monday, as the sides seek to mend frayed ties that had led to a sharp escalation in tension last year.
Last Updated On: May 31 2021 03:15 Gmt+3
Greece and Turkey, mired in disputes over territory in the Mediterranean and the ethnically divided island of Cyprus, made little progress in repairing ties in a second meeting between their foreign ministers in two months on Monday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavusoğlu was in Athens for negotiations with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias. He also held brief talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
In televised comments, Çavusoğlu and Dendias agreed to mutually recognise their COVID-19 vaccination certificates and agreed on a list of economic cooperation programmes.
Greece is seeking a “gradual normalisation” of bilateral ties with Turkey, Dendias said. The two governments “hold different and, on certain issues, diametrically opposed positions”, he said.
Mevlüt Çavuşoglu’s comments on the Turkish minority in Thrace provoked the response of the Greek Foreign Ministry, which spoke of continuous efforts by Turkey to distort reality.
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece reacted angrily on Sunday to a statement by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that described members of a Muslim minority in northern Greece as Turkish and that said they were not accorded full civic rights.