“Turkey and Greece are two neighboring countries and allies, linked by common geography, history, culture and, most importantly, a common future“, said Tsagatai Erciyes, Turkish ambassador at an event on the occasion of the 101st anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey.

In detail what the Turkish ambassador said:

“Our mutual interests require cooperation, especially now, as our region faces continuous wars and other challenges.

This spirit of cooperation is the direction our leaders are now actively pursuing.

President Erdogan and Prime Minister Mitsotakis have met 6 times in the last 16 months.

During this period, we reactivated all dialogue channels, increased high-level contacts, held numerous technical meetings and launched many joint cooperation projects, including mutual support for each other’s candidacies to international organizations such as the UNSC, IMO and OSCE .

Our cooperation has already brought tangible benefits in many areas such as economy, trade, investment, tourism and culture.

This year, our trade volume is expected to reach 6.2 billion dollars, with 1.2 million Turkish tourists visiting Greece and 700,000 Greek visitors to Turkey.​

In the next few days, our Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Athens and next year we will host the next meeting of the High Level Cooperation Council in Ankara.​​

This positive momentum we are building offers a unique opportunity to address all our outstanding and complex issues that in the past have led to tensions and crises.

This is a difficult task, as there are political, psychological and historical obstacles to overcome.

However, I always believe that our problems are not insurmountable as long as we keep our lines of communication open.

I am confident that through an honest and meaningful dialogue based on international law and good neighbourliness, respecting each other’s legitimate interests and rights and drawing harmony rather than hostility from our shared history, we can find mutually beneficial solutions to all our long-standing problems .

Distinguished Guests

We remain committed to strengthening our relationship with Greece and fostering a culture of cooperation that serves the best interests of both our nations and future generations.n.”