Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised on Thursday in Athens a historic restoration of relations between their countries, enemies united by common membership in NATO, reports Reuters.

Arriving in Athens on a landmark official visit on Thursday, Erdogan met with the Greek prime minister for talks, with the two announcing at a joint press conference after the meeting that they had agreed to develop and maintain friendly neighborly relations, keep communication channels open, increase trade ties and work together to resolve disputes that have caused tension between the two countries in recent years.

“There is no problem between us that cannot be solved,” Erdogan said after the meeting, which lasted longer than planned. But he noted that Athens and Ankara can solve their problems “if we focus on the big picture and don’t end up like those who cross the sea and drown in the river.”

“Geography and history determined that we live in the same area. But I believe that we have a historical responsibility to use this opportunity to unite the two states, as well as our borders,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis added.

More accustomed to wars of declaration in recent years, relations between the two neighbors thawed significantly after Greece quickly sent aid to Ankara following earthquakes that devastated central Turkey in early February.

“Earthquake diplomacy” brought Greece and Turkey closer again

Disputes between Greece and Turkey, some dating back decades, are as complex as their shared history, including disagreements over the delimitation of the Aegean continental shelf, the use of energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean and the division of Cyprus after a Turkish invasion that led to the division of Cyprus in 1974.

The two countries were on the brink of war in the 1990s and have clashed in recent years over issues related to defense, energy, migration and the purchase of US military aircraft.

But the “earthquake diplomacy”, which led to a warming of relations under similar circumstances in 1999, worked again.

On the same positive note, Recep Erdogan said in Athens that his country and Greece should focus more on the positive aspects of their relationship rather than the negative ones.

“It will be much more useful for the future if we look at things from a glass-half-full perspective,” he said during a meeting with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou before meeting Prime Minister Mitsotakis.

Greece recently received approval from the European Union to reinstate 7-day visas for Turkish tourists who want to visit 10 Greek islands off the coast of Turkey.