The Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met at Sismanogleio Megaron with His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. Bartholomewas part of his visit to Istanbul to attend the celebration of Orthodoxy Day.
At the beginning of their meeting they made the following statements:
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Your Holiness, first of all let me tell you how happy and how moved I was to be given the opportunity today, Orthodox Sunday, to be in the Orthodox riverbed, with you, in Fanari. It was indeed a special moment for me.
Patriarch Bartholomew: And for us great joy and honor Mr. Prime Minister.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Thank you for your kind words, for the words of unity and peace that Christianity stands for, so relevant in these extremely difficult times that we are going through. As you know, immediately afterwards I visited the Turkish President, who was kind enough to present me the meal with a magnificent view of the Bosphorus. It was a meeting that took place I must tell you in a good atmosphere. I hope we have agreed that we face so many challenges as humanity but also as two NATO allies at this time, which is more important to focus on what unites us and less on what divides us. We have obviously reiterated our firm national positions, but we have emphasized the need to build a positive agenda, especially in the field of economics, where I think we can make significant progress in the coming months. And if all goes well, I believe that we will be able to convene a Supreme Cooperation Council in Greece now, – it is our turn to organize it – in the good autumn. So I think it was an opportunity for a very open, very honest discussion and I think we laid the groundwork. I am careful in my formulations because as you understand we have big differences which are not bridged from one moment to the next. I believe that we have laid the foundations for the improvement of our relations and especially to work together on the major issues which we are currently facing enormous challenges. You saw again today tragic images from Ukraine with civilians losing their lives. These should concern us …
Patriarch Bartholomew: Temples and monasteries were also hit.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Unfortunately, nothing but the horror of war.
Patriarch Bartholomew: We, Your Excellency, as the Ecumenical Patriarchate, are very happy for your presence here for our morning prayer at the Patriarchal Church, on this great day of our Faith, but we are also happy for the communication you had with the President of the Turkish Republic. We always say that good relations between the two countries have an impact on the life and testimony of the Ecumenical Patriarchate here in the country where it is located. On the contrary, the bad relations – which sometimes happen to exist between the two neighboring and allied countries – also have a negative impact, which, as our people say, “we feel on our skin”. That is why every step taken to build mutual trust between the two governments and the two peoples, fills us with joy and satisfaction. With these feelings we came to you in this house of Greece. We wish you a good return to Greece and success in all your next trips. There is a great deal of international mobility due to the war in Ukraine, of course, and we hope that all your efforts will be successful and that the contribution of Greece, as always, will be in the direction of peace and prosperity of the people and nations.
Earlier, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis attended a dinner hosted in his honor by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the presidential residence.
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