Greece Seeks To Strengthen Economic, Trade Cooperation With Turkey - Foreign Ministry

Greece Seeks to Strengthen Economic, Trade Cooperation With Turkey - Foreign Ministry

ATHENS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th April, 2021) Despite existing issues in the bilateral relations between Athens and Ankara, Greece has proposed to pursue a positive agenda in such areas as economy and trade, the Greek Foreign Ministry stated on Friday following a meeting between Greek top diplomat Nikos Dendias and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.

"As stressed during Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias' meetings in Ankara yesterday, the Mitsotakis government has a clear will to promote a positive agenda in the relations between the two countries and a range of cooperation," the ministry stated.

According to Athens, cooperation in economic and trade sectors can contribute to deescalation and improvement of bilateral relations. The two sides have already exchanged opinions on the possible joint projects that can be implemented after the pandemic, the ministry noted.

"The Greek side, through the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy, Kostas Fragogiannis, proposed 15 points of cooperation in the economic sector. The Turkish side also put forward specific proposals," the statement read.

Though the meeting ended with a public spat between the two diplomats, the Greek Foreign Ministry expressed willingness to continue working on the next steps at the upcoming meetings between the two countries, "on all levels."

Dendias arrived in Turkey on Thursday to discuss bilateral relations with Cavusoglu and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The talks took place amid escalating tensions between Athens and Ankara as Turkish scientific vessels carry out research missions in waters that Greece considers its exclusive economic zone. The maritime border delineation dispute has led to the Greek military being put on high alert.