Tsipras says channel of communication with Turkey must broaden

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said it was important to broaden the channel of communication with Turkey, during a visit by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to Athens on Thursday.

“We are undergoing a critical period in our neighborhood. A period of tension in European-Turkish relations, a period of worrying developments in our region, in the Middle East and in Europe,” Tsipras said during a joint press conference.

“In this period we believe it is as important as ever that we boost our channels of communication. We can only do this based on mutual respect,” Tsipras said.

Greece and Turkey have agreed to launch “confidence building measures,” Tsipras said.

“We agreed to resume talks, under our supervision, on confidence and security measures, as well as exploratory talks on the continental shelf,” he said.

“We tried to do away with misunderstandings, to understand what the other person means… From my side I have stressed that Turkish violations [in the Aegean airspace] must end.” [Reuters]