Greek PM ‘not trying to pick a fight' with Turkiye, to pursue visit
ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday vowed to carry out a planned visit to Turkiye despite regional tension and the recent arrest of Istanbul's mayor.
The Greek leader was to visit Ankara this month under a schedule agreed in 2023 to smooth over differences between the rival neighbors, who are NATO members.
The trip appeared to have been shelved after the Athens government last month said it was 'difficult' to organize after the 'worrying' arrest of Istanbul's opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
Mitsotakis said Wednesday however that he would go ahead with a planned meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He did not say when it would happen.
'There is no issue or particular reason why this meeting should be postponed,' he told Proto Thema daily.
Mitsotakis added that he was 'not trying to pick a fight with Turkiye' to burnish his domestic standing.
The Aegean boundary between the two, which Greece says is based on 20th century treaties, is a key obstacle in relations.
There are frequent disputes over migration, energy exploration in the Aegean and territorial sovereignty.
Greece last week released a marine spatial planning map which Turkiye said violates its maritime jurisdiction in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkiye has also sought to impede an electricity cable project between Greece, Cyprus and Israel called the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI).
Mitsotakis on Wednesday called the cable 'a European project which will proceed in due course.'
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