Turkey Announces Massive Military Exercise in the Aegean banksnews.gr - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from banksnews.gr Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Talks Between Greece and Turkey Resume After Five Years
Exploratory talks between Greece and Turkey launched in Istanbul. Credit: Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Talks between Greece and Turkey, described as “exploratory contacts”, resumed on Monday in Istanbul, after almost five years.
Turkish Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, a close associate of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is also taking part in the talks between diplomats from both sides.
Greece and Turkey will try to find points of convergence for possible future negotiations regarding the delimitation of the continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, based on international law.
Turkey Slams Head of Greek Church, Ieronymos, for “Insulting Islam”
January 18, 2021
Turkey slammed Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronymos, for his remarks during a television interview on Sunday about Islam.
“These provocative expressions of Archbishop Ieronimos, which incite the society to hostility and violence against Islam, also show the frightening level Islamophobia has reached,” reads a statement by the Turkish foreign ministry.
“Such malign ideas are also responsible for the increase of racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia in Europe,” it adds.
Ankara was responding to Ieronymos interview on Open TV where he appeared to claim that Islam is not a religion, but a political party seeking war.
Are Greece-Turkey Talks Doomed to Fail?
January 13, 2021
Turkish vessel the Oruc Reis is escorted into Greek waters by five Turkish Navy vessels on Monday, August 10. Photo: Turkish Defense Ministry
The Greece-Turkey talks are more likely than not to fail, analysts say, as the two sides prepare for recommencing negotiations on January 25, after a a five-year hiatus.
The exploratory talks between the neighboring countries will take place in Istanbul, as respective foreign ministers Nikos Dendias and Mevlüt Cavusoglu are meeting today, Wednesday, with EU officials to inform them about the agenda.
The United States welcomed the exploratory talks related to maritime zone delimitation, the US State Department said on Tuesday.