The joint treatment by Greece and Turkey of the migratory flows from the sea was underlined in his statement by the Minister of Shipping and Island Policy Christos Stylianidis, after the completion of his official visit to Ankara, where he met today, Thursday, January 18, with the Minister of the Interior of Turkey .Ali Yerlikaya.

The meeting between the two delegations focused on the exchange of views to strengthen the cooperation of the two countries within the responsibilities of the two ministries.

Specifically, ways of cooperation between Greece and Turkey were examined to jointly deal with illegal immigration by sea and the illegal trafficking of migrants. It was also agreed to strengthen the cooperation and communication between the authorities of the Hellenic-Turkish Coast Guard.

Also, the Minister of Maritime and Island Policy paid a visit to the Headquarters of the Turkish Coast Guard where he had a formal meeting with the Deputy Minister of Interior of Turkey responsible for Coast Guard issues Mr. Mehmet Saglam and the Chief of the Turkish Coast Guard Vice Admiral Ahmet Kendir.

During his visit to Ankara, the minister was accompanied by the Chief of the Coast Guard – Hellenic Coast Guard, Vice Admiral L.S. Georgios Alexandrakis and other staff members of the Corps.

Before leaving Ankara, the Minister of Shipping and Island Policy stated: “We have completed the official visit to Ankara. We had a meeting with the Minister of Interior Mr. Ali Yerlikaya and his staff. Our own delegation, apart from me as the Minister of Shipping and Insular Policy, also included the Chief of the Coast Guard-Hellenic Coast Guard and two key staff members of the Corps who together with the Chief discussed matters of cooperation in the field.

The meeting with the Turkish Minister of the Interior and staff members was very good and took place in a very constructive atmosphere. We have looked at all the evidence we have on illegal immigration, mainly, of course, where we are interested, namely the maritime routes of smugglers and illegal immigrants. The meeting focused on how we can enable an informal cooperation that existed until now to become much more systematic and acquire the character of a common response to the problem on the maritime borders of the two countries.

It was accepted by both sides, we insisted, that only with a joint approach will we be able to reduce the flows for the benefit of both countries and the Greek and Turkish people. As time passes, this will be proven in practice in the field with the reduction of flows. We have already had a significant improvement since last August and September but we will continue this effort.

A technical meeting was also held between the Chief of the Coast Guard-Hellenic Coast Guard and the Chief of the Turkish Coast Guard, where the staff saw in a very practical and technical way all the details of the cooperation on the field. We will continue in this direction with cooperation, apart from the daily contact that the two Chiefs may have.

We will also have people who will at any time be ready to cooperate to prevent problems of migratory flows at sea, but at the same time we will soon proceed to a meeting of the Greek staff and the Turkish staff, so that we constantly evaluate the condition.

The Turkish Minister of the Interior will come to Athens for a meeting in the middle to the end of February, as a continuation of all the meetings held with his counterparts, such as with me, Mr. Kairides and Mr. Chrysochoidis. I believe that today a new beginning was made in jointly dealing with migratory flows at sea».