Mitsotakis-Erdogan meeting to reaffirm desire for calm in bilateral relations, sources say

Athens expects a meeting between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later on Wednesday to confirm a mutual desire for calm in relations between Greece and Turkiye and the prospects for their improvement, diplomatic sources said.

The meeting is taking place at Turkiye’s invitation and will be held at Turkish House in Manhattan, near the United Nations building. Government sources said that the meeting is a follow-up to that between the two leaders after their re-election, which happened on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Vilnius the previous July. It also follows a meeting between Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan a few days earlier, in which the two countries decided on a road map for their next contacts based on the agreements made in Vilnius, namely political dialogue, confidence building measures and the positive agenda.

Mitsotakis and Erdogan may also discuss details of the High-Level Cooperation Council meeting, the same sources said, which is due to meet in Thessaloniki before the end of the year. The sources highlighted the importance of being able to converse with Turkiye and agree that any issues can only be resolved on the basis of international law and the rules of good neighbour relations, and that things should not be taken to extremes and high levels of tension, as was the case in the recent past.

They also repeated that issues pertaining to national sovereignty and national integrity will on no account be discussed in the talks with Turkiye.

Mitsotakis is also scheduled to meet NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly at 16:45.