Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos met on Tuesday with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul on the sidelines of the Organisation of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Congress.
It was agreed at the meeting of the two officials that Davutoglu will in turn pay a visit to Athens in September in order to prepare the ground for the inter-ministerial meeting scheduled to take place later in the Turkish capital.
After the one-hour meeting, Avramopoulos expressed satisfaction with the atmosphere that pervaded the friendly discussion. “We discussed several issues without going into details but reaffirmed our common will to proceed as soon as possible with the further enhancement of the relations as good neighbors states, understanding and cooperation,” said Avramopoulos and noted that “everything is indicating that in September we will have our first official meeting in Athens.”
The Greek official noted that both sides aspire to develop a climate of stability, security and cooperation in the broader region, and in response to the question posed by reporters whether the incident of the downing of the Turkish aircraft by the Syrian army was discussed, Avramopoulos replied that “we did not have an agenda, it was a friendly meeting, and we did not discuss such matters.” Besides, he added, the EU position with regards to the issue that has arisen with Syria “is crystal clear.”
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