Turkey and Greece to hold exploratory talks

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA) - Archive

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The 61st round of exploratory talks between Turkey and Greece will take place in İstanbul on January 25, 2021.

In a written statement released on the official website of Turkey's Foreign Ministry yesterday (January 11), it was said, "The 61st round of the Exploratory Talks will take place in Istanbul on 25 January 2021."

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated earlier yesterday that Turkey was inviting Greece to attend new exploratory talks hosted in Turkey.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Prime Minister of Greece, also said yesterday that Greece would take part in new exploratory talks with Turkey once the date was finalized. Addressing the reporters at a press conference in Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal, Mitsotakis indicated that Greece was waiting for an invitation from Turkey to hold the talks.

"The procedure is simple," he told a joint press conference with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa. "After the intention is made, the officials of the foreign ministries of the two countries come together to set a date. This has not happened yet, but it is positive that Turkey expressed a desire to begin the process," said Mitsotakis further.

Prime Minister Costa, whose country now holds the European Union's (EU) rotating presidency, expressed his desire to build fruitful relations during Portugal's term, which lasts through the end of June.

"Turkey is a NATO ally and a very important neighbor to the EU. A large Turkish community also lives in the EU. We will try to get the relationships back to normal as soon as possible," said Costa.

CLICK - Turkey's 'test' with foreign affairs in 2021

Last talks were held in March 2016

The 60th round of talks, the last of the exploratory talks initiated between the two countries in 2002, took place in Athens in March 2016.

Afterward, bilateral negotiations continued in the form of political consultations but did not return to an exploratory framework.

The issue of energy rights and maritime boundaries are certain to loom large in any talks to be held between Turkey and Greece.

Turkey has rejected the maritime boundary claims of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration in the region, stressing that these claims violate the sovereign rights of both Turkey and Northern Cyprus.

Ankara last year sent several drillships to explore for energy in the Eastern Mediterranean, which caused tension especially with Greece.

CLICK - Escalating tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean

(EKN/SD)