Greek and Turkish defense ministers meet

The defense ministers of Greece and Turkey, Nikos Panagiotopoulos and Hulusi Akar, met Thursday at the NATO Ministers Meeting in Brussels and agreed to keep in touch to help de-escalate tensions between the two countries.

Greek aides to Panagiotopoulos were reserved about the outcome of the 40-minute meeting, because, they said, meetings between the two are always cordial, but this does not often translate into a de-escalation in the heated rhetoric of Turkish officials, Akar himself included.

Each of the two ministers had a bilateral meeting with their US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, who posted identical tweets after meeting with each: “I met today with…Minister of Defense…to discuss ongoing defense cooperation and the importance of regional stability.”

Panagiotopoulos told Akar of the need to open communications channels, if possible at the very top level, in order for the de-escalation effort to bear fruit. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he no longer wants to talk to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who, for his part, has declared himself open to dialogue.

Panagiotopoulos told reporters Thursday that both Akar and he are aware that every other NATO member wants tensions between the two countries to subside. Panagiotopoulos said he told Akar that in order for talks to resume at the highest level, or even between the lower-level committees working on common agreements, Turkey must stop its verbal threats and challenges to Greek sovereignty.

Akar agreed on the need to improve relations, but added that differences exist, which must be openly debated. Akar also reminisced about the good working relations he had, as chief of Turkey’s General Staff, with the two successive Greek counterparts.

Panagiotopoulos, for his part, declared himself satisfied that during his meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, the latter conceded and said so clearly for the first time that Turkey’s disputing Greek sovereignty over areas in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean is unacceptable.