ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s foreign minister says his Greek counterpart is set to visit Turkey for talks next month following a meeting of senior diplomats to ease long-standing tensions between the two NATO allies.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday that Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias would be visiting Ankara on April 14. He said they would discuss a possible meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The announcement came after senior Turkish and Greek diplomats held exploratory talks in Athens – part of a series of such meetings designed to build trust between the neighboring countries.
A Greek Foreign Ministry official said Dendias had accepted Cavusoglu’s invitation to visit Turkey provided the “right conditions” prevail.
Tension between Greece and Turkey flared last year over maritime boundaries and energy exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean, leading to a military buildup in the area that featured warships from the two countries facing off.
The dispute added strain to Ankara’s relations with the European Union, which is currently preparing an evaluation on its ties with Turkey.
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