After Erdogan repeatedly slams Mitsotakis, Akar says Ankara ready for immediate bilateral talks

By George Gilson

In the first indication that Greek-Turkish talks may be in the offing after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's repeated invective against PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his angry announcement that he is cutting off channels of communications with him and Greece more generally, Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos and his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, spoke briefly today on the margins of a NATO defence ministers' meeting in Brussels and reportedly intend to arrange an official meeting.

The development comes after Akar - following Ankara's almost daily challenges of Greece's sovereignty over dozens of Aegean islands on grounds that the Greek foreign ministry debunked with the release of 16 maps demonstrating Ankara's growing expansionism from the 1923 status quo established by the Treaty of Lausanne to maps issued this year with islands that Turkey insists should be stripped of their defences - indicated that he is prepared to begin talks with his Greek counterpart.

According to Turkish defence ministry sources quoted by the daily Kathimerini, the two ministers agreed on the need to maintain open channels of communication to resolve day-today problems and to focus on a positive agenda that will bolster good neighbourly relations and promote a dialogue to reducde tensions.

Those leaked niceties, however, in no way reflect Ankara's posture on the ground and its diplomatic moves, such as the recent letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that demands demilitarisation of the Greek islands of the Eastern Aegean.

Ankara prepared to begin talks immediately

Some days before today's summit, Akar expressed to the same daily Ankara's willingness to resume bilateral talks on both the...

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