The minister described the opportunity to consolidate the rules of good neighborliness, create conditions for peace, security and stability in the region, which Greece always wants, but always in compliance with international law and without any suspicion of infringing on the sovereign rights of the country. Defense Minister for National Affairs Nikos Panagiotopoulos had an extremely positive climate in Greek-Turkish relations, speaking to local media in Kavala.

These remarks by Mr. Panayotopoulos came after a visit he made on Tuesday to Turkey, where he and his colleague Hulusi Akar visited earthquake-affected areas in Hatay. In fact, in the context of this contact, Mr. Akar repeated the sincere condolences of the Turkish side in connection with the railway accident in Tempi.

Reapproach Steps

After the deterioration that was observed in relations between Athens and Ankara in the previous period, the strong earthquake that occurred in Turkey on February 6 was an event that restored the connection between the two sides and confirmed the sense of solidarity between the Greek and Turkish peoples.

The reaction of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was immediate, he demanded that humanitarian aid and an EMAK train be sent to the Hatay region with air force transport aircraft. Also sent a lot of essential items collected by local governments, the church and other organizations.

Both President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed condolences to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while Foreign Ministers Nikos Dendias and Mevlut Cavusoglu issued a joint statement emphasizing that they do not need to wait for an earthquake or natural disaster to improve their relationship.

The third step towards rapprochement came after the Tempe train disaster. In addition to reciprocating condolences, the Turkish justice minister approved the transfer of a relative of the victim, who was held in Takirdag prison, to participate in the funeral procession of his child. This decision was made in accordance with a bilateral agreement on the transfer of convicts from Turkey to Greece and vice versa, as the case may be.

This was followed by a decision to mutually support, on the one hand, Turkey’s candidacy for the position of an interim member of the UN Security Council in the period 2025-2026, and on the other hand, on the Greek side, Turkey’s candidacy for the position of Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization IMO.

At the same time, the contacts that Deputy Foreign Minister Konstantinos Fragoyannis had with his colleague, Ambassador Burak Aktsapar in Ankara, in the context of the “positive agenda”, created the field for the progress of the Greek-Turkish approach in 25 areas of “low politics” (business, energy , shipping, tourism, transport and telecommunications, information technology and communications, education and culture, social security, health care, ecology and archeology).

Following these steps, a meeting of defense ministers was prepared and held. Panayotopoulou and Akar, who kept in touch with each other even in the most difficult moments of the last four years.

A government source noted that “communication is the first but decisive step of friendship, which throughout its duration is confirmed by mutual respect for rules, that is, international law, as well as for objective values, such as the rules of good neighborliness. Not forgetting our positions and our duty.”

Source: RES-IPE