TURKEY: Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou meets with his Turkish counterpart Yayyip Erdogan

Record ID: 217329

  • Title: TURKEY: Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou meets with his Turkish counterpart Yayyip Erdogan
  • Date: 8th January 2011
  • Summary: ERZURUM, TURKEY (JANUARY 7, 2010) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) VARIOUS VIEWS OF EASTERN CITY OF ERZURUM VARIOUS OF BILLBOARD ADS SHOWING PHOTOS OF TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN AND GREEK PRIME MINISTER GEORGE PAPANDREOU EXTERIOR OF DEDEMAN HOTEL WHERE TWO LEADERS ARE MEETING PAPANDREOU WALKING TO MEET ERDOGAN ERDOGAN GREETING PAPANDREOU ERDOGA
  • Embargoed: 23rd January 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece, Turkey
  • City:
  • Country: Greece Turkey
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVACDXRFMUS7Y7TOCS4PC7IF2OI3
  • Story Text: The Prime Ministers of Greece and Turkey met over breakfast on Friday (January 7) just days after Athens said it was planning to erect a 12.5 km fence on the border with Turkey to prevent a wave of illegal immigrants.
    George Papandreou and Tayyip Erdogan held a meeting along with their foreign ministers in the eastern Turkish city of Erzurum ahead of winter games starting at the end of the month.
    But it was expected that talks would be dominated by immigration issues.
    Athens has long complained that Turkey is not doing enough to stop illegal migrants and that Ankara's refusal to take back immigrants who have crossed from its territory encourages would-be migrants to use that route.
    The fence Greece has proposed would stretch over the Orestiada border in the north eastern part of Greece a main route for migrants from Africa and Asia.
    The European border agency Frontex says more than 200 people crossed that border illegally last year.
    Long time rivals Greece and Turkey nearly came to blows in 1996 over an uninhabited Aegean islet.
    The two have skirmished over Turkey's occupation of Cyprus and territorial rights in the Aegean.
    But ties have improved since 1999, when earthquakes in both countries sparked spontaneous outpourings of aid and prompted their leaders to improve relations and sign accords.
    Erdogan is likely to solicit Papandreou's help to push through a solution for the reunification of the divided island of Cyprus, long an obstacle to Turkey's EU membership aspirations.
    Greece says it wants to see changes in behaviour from Turkey in areas such as overflights and air space violations.
    Papandreou is scheduled to address a conference of Turkish ambassadors and hold a joint press conference with Erdogan later on Friday.
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