ATHENS, Greece (AP) 鈥 Delegations from Greece and Turkey were meeting in Athens on Monday as part of long-standing efforts to improve often tense relations between the two neighbors, days after Turkey voiced objections over Greece鈥檚 plans to create marine nature reserves in the Ionian and Aegean seas.
The two regional rivals are NATO allies but have been at odds for decades over a series of issues, including territorial claims in the Aegean and drilling rights in the Mediterranean, and have come to the brink of war three times in the last 50 years. A in 2020 led to the two countries鈥 warships facing off in the Mediterranean.
Monday鈥檚 meeting in the Defense Ministry in Athens was to discuss confidence-building measures, following a similar meeting in Ankara last November. The two countries have engaged in the confidence-building process on and off for years, trying to seek common ground on a series of lower-key issues as a means of improving ties.
The meeting comes ahead of planned talks in Ankara on May 13 between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Tense ties have improved significantly over the past year, with in December and signing a raft of trade, energy and education deals.
But Mitsotakis鈥 announcement last week that Greece will create two marine parks for the protection of sea mammals and birds 鈥 one in the Ionian Sea in western Greece and one in the central Aegean 鈥 has angered Turkey.
Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan鈥檚 ruling party, said last week that Ankara considers the 鈥渁 step that sabotages the normalization process鈥 in relations, and said Turkey would 鈥渋n no way allow actions toward the declaration of marine parks in the Aegean Sea.鈥
Mitsotakis, speaking last week after a meeting of European leaders in Brussels, expressed surprise at what he described as 鈥淭urkey鈥檚 totally unjustified reaction to an initiative which at the end of the day is of an environmental nature.鈥
The Greek prime minister said the between Greece and Turkey was 鈥渦ndeniable and measurable,鈥 but that this did not mean Turkey had changed its positions on the delineation of maritime zones in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean.
鈥淭hese positions remain positions which are deeply problematic for our country,鈥 Mitsotakis said.
鈥淏ut this does not prevent us from being able to talk, to create a general good climate and invest more in a positive agenda and less in the issues which divide us and over which we clearly disagree.鈥
Turkey鈥檚 delegation at Monday鈥檚 talks was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akcapar, while the Greek one was headed by Ambassador Theocharis Lalakos, Greece鈥檚 Defense Ministry said.
