TURKEY: Greek Prime Minister Karamanlis arrives Turkey for first Prime ministerial visit in 49 years

Record ID: 644704

  • Title: TURKEY: Greek Prime Minister Karamanlis arrives Turkey for first Prime ministerial visit in 49 years
  • Date: 24th January 2008
  • Summary: KARAMANLIS AND ERDOGAN SHAKING HANDS AT GATE OF PRIME MINISTER OFFICE/ DELEGATIONS WALKING INTO BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 8th February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA3HAFWSGKGNBTLOGDCXXSXBCMO
  • Story Text: Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis arrives in Ankara for a three-day official visit - the first by a prime minister in 49 years.
    Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis arrived in Ankara on Wednesday (January 23th) for a rare three-day official visit.
    Karamanlis was greeted by Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan at the airport before heading out for talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Prime Minister's Office in Ankara.
    Karamanlis is the first Greek prime minister visiting Turkey after his uncle, Greek PM, Constantine Karamanlis' visit in 1959, though unofficial visits have taken place since.
    The visit is seen as a positive step in relations between the two neighbours, but is not expected to produce a breakthrough on the divided Mediterranean island or the long-standing territorial and minority disputes that have hurt Turkey's European Union accession hopes.
    Relations have improved since the two NATO allies nearly clashed in 1996 over a deserted Aegean island -- war was averted through U.S.
    intervention -- and working groups are clinching economic agreements as part of confidence building measures.
    Greece, eager to bring its neighbour closer to Europe, backs Turkey's EU accession provided it completes reforms and works to re-unite Cyprus, which is already an EU member. Turkish Cypriots voted for reunification in 2004, but Greek Cypriots opposed it.
    In November, Karamanlis inaugurated a pipeline with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on the Greek-Turkish border.
    During the Jan. 23-25 visit, he will go to Ankara and to Istanbul, where he and Erdogan are expected to attend a business forum on transport links, including possible direct flights between Athens and Ankara.
    Greek banks, long invested in the Balkans, have recently turned to Turkey, where top Greek lender National Bank bought Turkish Finansbank in 2006.
    The major sources of tension remain Cyprus, minority rights in both countries and disputes over the Aegean, and flare-ups often take the shape of mock dogfights between fighter aircraft.
    The two sides are expected to urge the United Nations to re-engage in efforts to re-unite Cyprus, divided since Turkey invaded in 1974 in response to a Greek-inspired coup in Nicosia.
    Turkish officials said the two countries were taking measures to minimise the risk of embarrassing dogfights over the Aegean during the visit.
    END
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