Mitsotakis, Erdogan meet in Washington

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis agreed that the relative calm prevailing in bilateral relations is mutually beneficial and should continue.

The two met for less than an hour Wednesday evening on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Washington DC. Besides bilateral relations, they discussed developments in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Mitsotakis expressed his satisfaction with the cooperation of the two countries in combating illegal migration.

But he also referred to Cyprus, saying that the island could not remain divided much longer and that reunification talks should resume.

Turkey has occupied the northern third of the island since 1974, when it invaded in response to a coup orchestrated by Greece’s then-ruling military regime.

Erdogan and Mitsotakis agreed to take further steps in bilateral trade, aiming to double the trade volume. They also agreed to meet again in September, during the United Nations annual General Assembly in New York.

Also present at the meeting were the two Foreign Ministers, Hakan Fidan and George Gerapetritis and the two leaders’ chief Foreign Policy advisors, Akif Cagatay Kilic and Anna-Maria Boura.