Greek–Turkish relations

Eminent Turkish academic Kemal Kirisci has worked persistently for peaceful collaboration and friendship between Greece and Turkey.

The 61st round of "exploratory talks" between Greece and Turkey has ended; the question now is when, and if, the 62nd will take place.

After months of heightened tension with Athens and Nicosia, the Turkish National Security Council insisted Thursday that it favors diplomacy and dialogue to resolve issues with the two countries in the wider region. 

In his recent interview with Kathimerini, former prime minister Antonis Samaras put forward a number of arguments concerning the exploratory contacts between Greece and Turkey and shed light on an important aspect of the issue by expressing the belief - shared by a part of Greek society and certainly by a large part of the ruling center-right party - that it is not in Greece's interest to negot

The news report presents a Turkish professor saying that Greece should be threatened with ‘casus belli’ for extending territorial waters south of Crete

A positive agenda adopted by the EU Council in December is in the mutual interest of both Turkey and the European Union, the German envoy in Ankara has said, stressing that Brussels was open and ready for talks with Turkey to develop relations further and resolve existing conflicts.

Diplomatic delegations in Greece and Ankara met for three hours today in Ankara to launch exploratory talks on bilateral issues.

It was the 61st round of such talks, which commenced in 2002, when George Papandreou was foreign minister, and were abruptly terminated in 2016 after an abortive coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016.

Greece is due to sign a 2.3 billion-euro ($2.8 billion) deal with France on Monday to purchase 18 Rafale fighter jets as tensions grow with neighbor Turkey.

Florence Parly, the French defense minister, is due in Athens to sign the agreement to deliver 12 used and six new aircraft built by Dassault Aviation over two years, starting in mid-2021.

Turkey and Greece resumed exploratory talks on Jan. 25 in Istanbul over disputed territorial claims after a four-year pause.

On Jan. 11, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu invited Greece to resume the talks amid a softening of rhetoric between Turkey and the European Union.

Just three days before the resumption of exploratory contacts between Athens and Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reminded Greece on Friday that in the event it extends its territorial waters in the Aegean it will be a cause for war, or casus belli.