Erdogan sends letter to Papandreou

Turkish Premier Sends Letter To His Greek Counterpart

ANKARA (A.A) - 04.11.2009 - The Turkish prime minister sent on Wednesday a letter to his Greek counterpart.

Turkey's Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter to Greece's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister George Papandreou on October 30 in which he said that bilateral relations, tried to be boosted within the framework of mutual respect and understanding, would have positive impact on regional peace and stability.

In his letter, Erdogan said the Turkish government was ready to discuss all issues to improve relations with Greece in every area and therefore conveyed a number of proposals to create new cooperation opportunities between the two countries.

Erdogan said that Turkey attached importance to boosting its relations with neighbor Greece, and stressed that "zero problem with neighboring countries" was among the priorities of the Turkish foreign policy.

In the letter, Erdogan also expressed hope that Turkish government and the newly-formed Greek government would speed up the ongoing good relations and dialogue.

On October 9, Papandreou visited Istanbul and met Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on the occasion of the informal meeting of foreign ministers of South-East European Countries Process.

Papandreou also visited the grave of his fellow colleague Ismail Cem, where he was welcomed by Cem's wife and son, at the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.

He put an olive branch to Cem's grave, cut of from the olive tree planted in Greece a decade ago by Cem and Papandreou to symbolise peace.

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Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (L) recently sent a letter to Papandreou, offering a series of proposals to create new opportunities for cooperation.


Ankara proposes ‘strategic cooperation council’ with Greece

06 November 2009, Friday

SERVET YANATMA ANKARA

In its latest step in implementing its foreign policy principle of “from zero problems to maximum cooperation” with neighbors, Turkey has approached its Aegean neighbor Greece to establish a “high-level strategic cooperation council,” similar to those it has established with Iraq and Syria.

In its proposal sent to Athens, Ankara underlined the cooperation platforms it has recently established with other neighbors, and said it would be possible to have such a platform with Athens, in a mechanism based on mutual respect and understanding.

While admitting the presence of significant differences of views between Ankara and Athens on certain substantial issues, Turkish diplomatic sources, speaking with Today’s Zaman, stated that this fact is not a barrier to improving bilateral relations. Moreover, a probable improvement of bilateral cooperation will also have a positive impact on resolving those disputed issues, the same sources said.

As frequently voiced by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, “having mutual economic dependence with neighboring countries” will contribute to strengthening security in the region and will also play a facilitating role in resolving substantial issues in the long run. Transportation, energy and tourism are among the particular fields in which Ankara believes that cooperation with Greece can be maximized. Visa facilities for businesspeople and mutual exchange programs in various fields are also planned.

A rapprochement between Ankara and Athens actually started long before Turkey’s efforts to normalize its relations with Syria, Iraq and Armenia. The two countries came to the brink of war three times between 1974 and 1996 over Aegean borders and the divided island country of Cyprus.

The rapprochement between the Turkish and Greek peoples after the devastating earthquakes each suffered in 1999 provided another incentive to intensify diplomatic efforts for the improvement of bilateral relations. But occasional accusations of airspace and territorial water violations as well as the Cyprus issue continue to mar relations.

In 2002 Greek and Turkish diplomats began exploratory talks on their disputes. Business deals have steadily increased and include a pipeline link that will be used to carry natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Western Europe. But the Aegean has remained a source of tension.

Another issue has been illegal immigration. Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants sneak into Greece each year, many heading to Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast. Greece has signed an agreement with Turkey under which it can send back illegal immigrants who enter from Turkey, but Greece says the agreement is often not enforced.

Ankara apparently considers new Prime Minister George Papandreou’s term in office as an opportunity for a new high-level strategic relationship, as Papandreou championed rapprochement between Greece and Turkey, when he served as foreign minister between 1999 and 2004. Last month, he paid his first foreign trip to Turkey on the occasion of an informal meeting of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP), hosted by Davutoğlu.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently sent a letter to Papandreou, who is also currently handling his government’s foreign affairs, highlighting his expectation ofa new acceleration in the two countries’ bilateral cooperation on the occasion of the new government in Athens.

The Turkish government has the will to improve relations with Greece in all fields and is ready to deal with all current issues, Erdoğan told Papandreou in his letter sent on Oct. 30, the prime ministry press office said on Wednesday. He also offered a series of proposals for creating new cooperation opportunities within this framework, the office said, without elaborating on the content of the proposals.

“It is not possible to think that authorities from Turkey and Greece will gather and not talk about Cyprus,” State Minister and chief EU negotiator Egemen Bağış told reporters on Thursday in İstanbul ahead of his departure for an official visit to Athens, apparently referring to the fact that Turkey and Greece, along with UK, are guarantor countries in Cyprus.

The Cyprus problem erupted after the eastern Mediterranean island was granted independence from Britain in 1960, soon followed by an outbreak of inter-communal clashes in 1963. The island was ethnically divided between a Greek south and a Turkish north when the Turkish military intervened in 1974 under the terms of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee after diplomacy failed to end unrest on the island. Bağış expressed hope for a concrete outcome from ongoing reunification negotiations between Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, citing the “courageous” leadership of Erdoğan and Papandreou as a chance for such an outcome.

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New era will begin for Turkish-Greek relations, Turkish chief negotiator

06 November 2009, Friday

THE ANATOLIA NEWS AGENCY ATHENS

Turkish chief negotiator said on Friday that a new era would begin for Turkish-Greek relations.

Turkish State Minister & Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış departed from Greece after holding formal talks.

Prior to his departure, Bağış met Turkish journalists over breakfast in Athens and told them that he had fruitful talks during his visit to Greece.

In regard to a letter that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent to Greek Prime Minister and Foreign Minister George Papandreou, Bağış said Erdoğan expressed his views on the Cyprus issue, minorities, Turkey's EU accession process and illegal migration in his letter.

Bağış held bilateral talks with Greek authorities during his 22-hour visit to Athens. He also gave a conference on Turkey's EU membership at the International Center for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS).

He left Greece for Germany to hold formal talks with German authorities with the ministry of foreign affairs.

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Bullshit , turkey wants to fool anyone who has disputes with because in 40 days EU will review its progress and wants a somewhat "sympathetic" stance . Mark my words the day after negotiations and if Greece bite the bullshit erdogan says F-16's will violate the Greek airspace AGAIN.



This post has been edited by o prosfigas on November 06, 2009 06:08 pm

Too little too late...

rawshark its never too late for anything.....To get along in this world we all make daily compromises,and so with nations also

Athens cautious of Turk advances

Saturday November 7, 2009

A recent effort to advance relations between Greece and Turkey is being treated with caution by Athens, it emerged yesterday after a flurry of diplomatic activity between the two countries.

Speaking in Vienna, where he was attending an event to mark the 20th anniversary since the fall of the Berlin Wall organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), of which Greece holds the rotating presidency, Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas indicated that Greece was not getting carried away with Turkey's overtures.

«Greece supports Turkey's efforts but is very insistent that all the conditions and obligations that Turkey has undertaken vis-a-vis the European Union and its member states are met,» said Droutsas.

«Greece is always open and looking for honest cooperation. Turkey knows the issues on which it must help find solutions, such as in the case of Cyprus or in achieving good-neighborly relations with Greece.

«We will not shy away from actual contact, after all we initiated it and we are actively seeking it, as long as the proper groundwork is carried out and there is the necessary seriousness,» said the minister.

Sources suggested that although encouraged by Turkey's response to a visit to Istanbul by Prime Minister George Papandreou just days after coming to office, Athens prefers to be cautious so it can wait to see if this is a genuine effort by Ankara to resolve problems or more of a public relations exercise.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded to Papandreou's visit by sending him a letter in which he suggested ways of strengthening ties between the two countries.

Turkey's chief European Union negotiator Egemen Bagis revealed in a visit to Athens on Thursday that in his letter to Papandreou, Erdogan proposes the establishment of a joint council involving the premiers and ministers of both countries to debate key issues of bilateral concern such as the Cyprus problem, tensions in the Aegean Sea and illegal immigration.

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I agree.

Dude, you sound like Turkey and Greece are girlfriend and boyfriend and are about to break up.

i think thye're not girlfriend and boyfriend but rather a couple of gays who picked each other up in a two bit bar ...and spent the night humping each other like wild dogs

LOL