ATHENS, Greece (AP) — After years of strained relations that raised tensions to alarming levels, longtime regional rivals Greece and Turkey made a significant step Thursday in mending ties during a visit to Athens by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
During a day of intense diplomacy, the two countries signed more than a dozen cooperation deals on trade, energy and education and announced a roadmap for future high-level consultations aimed at avoiding crises. “It is natural for there to be problems between two neighbors when there can be misunderstandings even among brothers,” Erdogan said during statements to the press after meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “What is important is the determination to resolve them.”
With both leaders showing a marked departure from the testy, sometimes outright belligerent rhetoric of the last few years, Erdogan spoke of the two NATO members’ shared border in the Aegean Sea.
“We want to convert the Aegean into a sea of peace and cooperation,” he said. “We wish to be an example to the world with the joint steps we will take as Turkey and Greece.”…
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