Türkiye: Erdogan eyes reset with Greece amid war in Gaza and talks with US over F-16s

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is looking to restart relations with Greece after years of tension, as Ankara contends with the fallout from the war in Gaza and continues to push the US to take steps on the sale of F-16 fighter jets.

“There is no problem that cannot be solved between us,” Erdogan told reporters as he met Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens on Thursday, adding that he wanted to turn “the Aegean into a sea of peace and cooperation”.

Erdogan had set the tone for the trip in an interview with Greece’s Kathimerini newspaper on Wednesday, in which he addressed the Greek leader as “My friend Kyriakos”.

Mitsotakis acknowledged in a joint statement that relations had been “dangerously threatened” in the past, but were now on a “calmer path”.

“I feel a historic debt to utilise the opportunity to bring the two nations side by side, as are our borders,” Mitsotakis said.

or now, the two have cast aside the thorniest issues between them to focus on “low-level diplomacy” and confidence-building measures where they can achieve immediate, tangible results and promote a positive agenda.

During the almost five-hour meeting in Athens, Turkish and Greek officials signed a raft of agreements on the economy, tourism, agriculture and migration. Erdogan also said he hoped they could double bilateral trade to $10bn, from the current $5.5bn.

In one of the most anticipated deals, Greece said it would revive an expedited seven-day tourist visa programme enabling Turks to visit 10 Greek islands close to the Turkish coast…

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[Middle East Eye, December 7, 2023]