Greece and Turkey seek to tone down the rhetoric

Greece and Turkey aim to extend the positive atmosphere in their bilateral relations beyond the moratorium on military exercises in the Aegean Sea as they explore further possibilities for normalization. The next steps in this process are anticipated to be taken in September.

Public statements made by foreign ministers Giorgos Gerapetritis and Hakan Fidan indicate their determination to build upon the constructive environment that was observed during closed-door discussions in Vilnius. However, the public disagreement regarding whether the issue of the Muslim minority in Thrace was raised by Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Recep Tayyip Erdogan highlights the challenge of completely avoiding contentious remarks.

Nevertheless, both sides managed to refrain from escalating the controversy. In the meantime, as reported by Kathimerini’s correspondent in Istanbul, the Turkish media have been instructed to adopt a restrained tone when covering matters related to Greek-Turkish relations – a policy that is naturally not in the cards on the Greek side of the Aegean.