By Antonis Anzoletou

At 11 tomorrow morning o Tayyip Erdogan escorted by two more planes, he will land at Eleftherios Venizelos, where he will be welcomed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Gerapetritis.

His schedule will be particularly tight:

  • At 11.30 he will be received by the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou
  • At 12:15 p.m. he will meet with Kyriakos Mitsotakis at Megaro Maximou.
  • At 13.00 the statements to the press will be made – no questions are expected
  • Then there will be a working lunch of the Plenary of the Supreme Cooperation Council of the two countries. It will be interesting if after the work of the Synod a joint communique will be issued by the two countries.

The ASS will have been preceded by parallel ministerial meetings at the level of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense in Vasilissis Sofias and at the Armed Forces Officers’ Club.

Meetings at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Maximos Palace have been ongoing for the last 24 hours ahead of the Turkish president’s five-hour stay in the capital. From Herodos Atticus they have recommended as the goal the confirmation of the calm climate that has been established in the last months and the further normalization of the relations between the two countries. It will be important if this is sealed with a series of agreements included in the positive agenda.

“Calm waters” and avoiding inflammatory statements as much as possible is a key demand for tomorrow. The extension of the “quiet” at the military level will be a very big gain from the meeting. Thursday’s important appointment takes place after the completion of the first round of the road map of contacts agreed between the foreign ministers of the two countries.

On October 16 in Athens, Deputy Foreign Minister Costas Fragogiannis and his Turkish counterpart Burak Aksapar confirmed the common will to proceed immediately with the signing of a series of agreements that have matured. The information speaks of the signing of 10-20 agreements – joint declarations in the fields of economy, trade relations, health, education, tourism, sports, research – technology and the agricultural sector.

The cooperation between the two countries at the diplomatic level continues for the finalization of the relevant texts.

In the event that Tayyip Erdogan decides to move aggressively, as he did in Berlin, putting issues that divide the two sides on the table, it is clear that the Greek Prime Minister will give the appropriate answers. The minority in Thrace is one of the difficult and “suspicious” issues for which the Greek side is constantly on “alert”.

The agreements that will be signed will form a good basis for the continuation of the talks, as everyone knows that no progress will be recorded for the core of Greek-Turkish relations. Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent statement that he spoke of the will to “resolve the differences before they turn into a stalemate” gives a good signal ahead of his presence in Athens tomorrow.

And in Ankara there is great mobilization for the summit meeting. The Council of Ministers of Turkey is meeting under the presidency of Tayyip Erdogan and the line to be followed in Athens will be decided.