The Minister of Foreign Affairs mentioned the Greek-Turkish relations by Imbro Nikos Dendiassending a message to Ankara during his meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

Mr. Dendias pointed out that “the Greek people are governed by feelings of friendship towards the Turkish people, and this was shown by the feelings expressed, without any encouragement, when the tragedy of the earthquakes tested Turkish society”.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs underlined that “Greek society stood and will stand in solidarity with the Turkish citizens, regardless of geopolitical issues, regardless of anything else.”

In fact, he expressed his belief that immediately after the elections in both countries, “God will give us the opportunity to be able to see from the beginning what separates us and to highlight what is much more important, what can unite us.”

“One should not be naive”

The assessment that there may be calm in the relations between Athens and Ankara after the earthquake in Turkey, but “one should not be naive”, since “the tension may return”, was made by the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu according to SKAI’s Istanbul correspondent Manolis Kostidis.

In an interview on Thursday night, on the Haberturk channel, the Turkish foreign minister stated that there are many long-standing issues for both Cyprus and the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean “which are interconnected, and must be resolved, otherwise there is a risk to return to tension at any moment”.

We are always ready to discuss these issues through dialogue and diplomacy, said Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The two countries are currently in a pre-election period, after the elections the consultative mechanism to settle problems should be revived and “concrete steps” should be taken, he said.