Greek Prime Minister wants better relations with Turkey, but Ankara must abandon aggression

(Patria) - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said his government wants to fully utilize the improved political climate with neighboring Turkey to improve bilateral relations despite a series of decades-old disputes, AP reported.

However, the Greek prime minister said this does not mean Turkey has "significantly changed" its stance on key differences between the two countries and must "decisively abandon its aggressive and illegal behavior" against Greece's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Turkey and Greece remain in conflict over maritime borders in the Eastern Mediterranean, a dispute that affects irregular migration to the European Union, mineral resource rights, and military power projection, AP recalls.

Mitsotakis said he agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan during the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11 and 12 to launch new
"lines of communication" and maintain a "period of peace." High-level talks between the two countries are expected to be held in the Greek city of Thessaloniki later this year.

The Greek prime minister said that Erdogan's rapprochement with the EU cannot come at the expense of efforts to heal nearly half a century of ethnic division in Cyprus, which has been divided into separate Greek and Turkish entities since 1974.

Speaking after talks with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides,
Mitsotakis says he told Erdogan that improved European-Turkish relations cannot exclude a peace agreement in Cyprus and that this issue cannot be "left aside".

Turkey and the breakaway Turkish Cypriots have insisted on a two-state solution since July 2017
when the last round of UN-mediated peace talks failed. On Friday, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar reiterated that peace talks can only continue if Greek Cypriots recognize the "sovereign equality" of Turkish Cypriots.

Christodoulides said on Monday that any improvement in European-Turkish relations
should be based on reciprocal action by Turkey, adding that the EU prioritizes
a peace agreement in Cyprus in accordance with UN resolutions.