TURKEY: Turkey and Greece agree on confidence-building measures in a meeting in Istanbul

Record ID: 858285

  • Title: TURKEY: Turkey and Greece agree on confidence-building measures in a meeting in Istanbul
  • Date: 10th June 2006
  • Summary: GUL APPROACHING PODIUM PEOPLE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER ABDULLAH GUL SAYING: "We will try our best to make progress in this meeting, and take better steps." JOURNALISTS
  • Embargoed: 25th June 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • City:
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVACHQ5VXJ32S3KZALWVRYAB69U3
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  • Story Text: Turkish and Greek foreign ministers on Saturday (June 10) agreed on new confidence-building measures after two of their jet fighters collided over the Aegean Sea.
    Among them are the creation of a telephone hot line between the army chiefs of the two countries and joint troop exercises -- steps the two sides hope will help prevent a repeat of such flashpoint incidents between the historic enemies.
    The NATO allies came close to war as recently as 1996. They have improved ties but have not resolved territorial disputes in the Aegean and over the divided island of Cyprus.
    Greek Foreign Minister Doka Bakoyanni and Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul unveiled the package of measures after a meeting in Istanbul during Bakoyanni's first visit to Turkey.
    A new border bridge will be built and a committee established for cooperation against floods on a river dividing the two countries.
    Long at odds over Cyprus, territorial and human rights issues, the two countries have seen relations improve in recent years with Athens declaring its backing for Ankara's EU bid.
    Gul said the Turkish army chief had invited his Greek counterpart to Turkey, and Turkish and Greek armies would hold joint exercises on how to deal with natural disasters.
    "I hope that a solution will be found on taking the facts on the island (Cyprus) into account. It's a shame that a big opportunity was missed in 2004 but now it's necessary to seek a comprehensive solution," Gul said in a joint news conference following the meeting.
    Turkish and Greek F-16 jets collided over the Aegean Sea last month, sparking mutual recriminations and a warning from Athens that Ankara's drive to join the European Union could suffer unless it changed its stance on sensitive issues.
    Bakoyanni said that a moratorium on military exercises on the Aegean Sea had been extended to last one month longer, to June 15-Sept 15, instead of July 1-Sept 1. The coasts of the two countries are crowded by tourists in summer.
    Bakoyanni said Greece supported Turkey's EU accession as a strategic choice, but expected Ankara to fulfil the EU's accession criteria like other candidates.
    "Greece supports Turkey's EU process as a strategic choice. We expect two things from Turkey: (the first is) to complete the EU criteria...the second thing is generally to help mutual confidence building measures and that is the reason for our continuing contacts," Bakoyanni said.
    Turkey has refused so far to recognise the Greek Cypriot government of the divided island of Cyprus, a member of the EU.
    Commerce and tourism between Greece and Turkey are booming, with bilateral trade expected to more than double to 5 billion euros in the next two years.
    Greece's largest bank National Bank in April purchased Turkey's Finansbank for $2.77 billion, a record Greek-Turkish deal. Greece's Eurobank agreed to buy a majority stake in Turkey's Tekfenbank.
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