Greece and Turkey can solve certain differences with dialogue, says Erdogan

Relations with Greece can improve and certain differences can be settled through dialogue, without third-party interference, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

Speaking at a press briefing on the flight back home from a visit to Berlin, Erdogan appeared optimistic about his upcoming trip to Greece next month, where he will be holding talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis as part of ongoing efforts to normalize relations between the two neighbors.

“I am hoping we will begin a new process. We want to reduce our enemies and increase our friends and we hope that we can make this step,” he said, commenting on the planned talks in Athens.

“As two important and neighboring countries in the region, it is absolutely natural that we should have opposing interests. We can solve the differences of opinion on certain matters by giving priority to dialogue,” Erdogan said.

“If we take third countries that approach the issue with the logic of profit and the market out of the process, we will have no problem resolving them,” he added.

His comment came after he accused the West in a recent speech of being a “united structure of crusaders and imperialists.”