Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Recep Tayyip Erdogan are making joint statements after their meeting at the Maximos Mansion in the presence of a small delegation of Greek and Turkish ministers.
Watch live the statements of Mitsotakis and Erdogan
The statements of Mitsotakis
Kyriakos Mitsotakis began by referring to crises such as the three-year pandemic, a war in the heart of Europe that caused an energy crisis and major energy disasters. At the same time we have faced and are facing regional conflicts. But bilateral relations have also seen fluctuations. At times they have been dangerously threatened. That is why it is extremely important that the countries are on a calmer path. Greece and Turkey must seek solutions and if they are not bridged they should not automatically produce tensions and crises. In this direction in Vilnius we agreed to take up the thread of cooperation. The road map we adopted included 3 levels including political dialogue and confidence building measures. And we are meeting for 3 times in 6 months. Today at the Supreme
On migration, we have seen a significant reduction in the flows due to border management and the cooperation between the police and the port police of the two countries.
Our country supports the facilitation of allocations within the framework of the European acquis. In addition, Greece has requested and secured the approval of the EU to activate the possibility for Turks and their families to visit all year round 10 of our islands that either have refugee structures or have a ferry connection with Turkey.
Bridge of equality and the minorities of the two countries.
We disagree on the Cyprus problem, for us as Greece there is no solution beyond the United Nations and the dialogue must start from where it stopped in 2017.
100 years after the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, a declaration on good neighbourly relations is concluded, a relationship envisioned by Constantine Mitsotakis when he received the great Ipecchi Prize in 1997. A declaration that we signed in full respect of the rights deriving from the sovereignty of each country
The next step may be an approach to the delimitation of the continental shelf and EEZ
Erdogan's statements
I am very pleased to be back in Athens. I would like to thank the Prime Minister for the welcome
We want to promote the positive relationship that exists. I believe that we can hold this meeting once a year
We agreed to raise bilateral trade to 10 billion
Our wish is to solve common problems.
We discussed how to deal with international terrorism and we welcomed the closure of the Lavrio camp and I asked for attention to ensure that there are no similar camps that harbour terrorists.
The Turkish minority in Greece and the Roma community in Turkey are building blocks of our cultural wealth
I expressed expectations for the improvement of the situation of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace
We said from the beginning that we do not approve of the targeting of civilians in Gaza
We are neighbouring countries sharing the same sea, it is quite natural for there to be problems between two countries, let alone two brothers
We want to make the Aegean a sea of peace. There is no problem so big that it cannot be solved
We are satisfied that Mitsotakis has such a vision
Mitsotakis' response on the minority
After Erdogan's speech, Kyriakos Mitsotakis took the floor again and referred to the issue of minorities, saying that "for me personally, Thrace is an example of coexistence between Christians and Muslims. The definition of a minority is determined by the Lausanne Treaty. It is our duty to maintain and safeguard the climate of harmonious coexistence. Greece assures that it will continue to work around the clock in this direction.
Mr Mitsotakis: "Our Muslim fellow citizens have equal opportunities"
The Supreme Cooperation Council follows
Earlier, the bilateral contacts of the Greek and Turkish ministers, who have arrived at Maximos for the holding of the High Cooperation Council in the form of a lunch, were concluded.
In addition to George Gerapetritis who met Hakan Fidan, Nikos Dendias met for the first time on Greek soil with Yasar Güler. Deputy Foreign Ministers Kostas Fragogiannis and Ambassador Alexandra Papadopoulou met Burak Aktsapar, Dimitris Kairidis, Yannis Economou and Christos Stylianides met Ali Yerlikaya, Kyriakos Pierrakakis met Yusuf Tekin, Kostis Hatzidakis met Mehmet Simsek, while Olga Kefalogianni and Lina Mendoni met Mehmet Nouri Ersoy.
The lunch will also be attended by officials from both sides who do not necessarily have bilateral appointments, such as State Minister Stavros Papastavrou and the Turkish Presidency's Director of Communication, Fahreddin Altoun
