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Greece and Turkey Pledge to Keep Talking, Sign Six Cooperation MoUs in Ankara

The meeting signaled a cautious thaw centered on trade plus migration cooperation despite unresolved maritime disputes.

Overview

  • Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara for roughly two hours before a joint press conference under the High-Level Cooperation Council framework.
  • The leaders oversaw six memorandums of understanding covering culture, technology and trade as they advanced a ‘positive agenda’ for cooperation.
  • Both sides highlighted migration as urgent after 15 people died off Chios, with Mitsotakis saying Aegean crossings fell by nearly 60% last year and calling for stronger action against smuggling networks.
  • Core disagreements over maritime boundaries persisted, with Greece reiterating it may extend territorial waters to 12 nautical miles and Turkey pointing to its 1995 casus belli and a recent maritime notice on research areas.
  • Erdogan and Mitsotakis reaffirmed confidence-building efforts and set a $10 billion bilateral trade target while stressing that disputes can be addressed through continued dialogue and international law.