ATHENS

Türkiye and Greece on Tuesday evening announced that they had agreed to build on the foundation of positive atmosphere between the two countries.

“The two sides agreed to build on the already existing positive atmosphere in order to identify areas of agreement and cooperation at bilateral and international level,” the two countries said in a joint statement released after consultations between their deputy foreign ministers in the Greek capital Athens.

On the 5th round of talks on Monday in Athens between Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akcapar and his Greek counterpart Konstantinos Frangogiannis on the Joint Action Plan in the context of the positive agenda between the countries, the statement said: “The two sides reaffirmed their common goal to deliver tangible results for the 5th Supreme Cooperation Council (SCC), to be held on 7 December 2023 in Thessaloniki (Greece), on issues related to the Positive Agenda, such as entrepreneurship, tourism, transport, energy, science.”

On Wednesday’s political consultations between Akcapar and his Greek counterpart Alexandra Papadopoulouon, the statement said “They reviewed the preparation procedures for the upcoming Supreme Security Council in December, as well as existing channels of communication, including Confidence Building Measures and exploratory/consultative talks.”

“In this context, both sides expressed their commitment to continue the dialogue, with a view to reaching a common understanding,” it added, noting that regional and bilateral issues were also discussed during the meeting.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis affirmed the "positive climate" in relations during a meeting this September in New York.

The leaders confirmed the roadmap and timeline of bilateral contacts as agreed in an earlier meeting of foreign ministers in Ankara.​​​​​​​