Turkish, Greek prime ministers advocate co-operation

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou addressed the annual conference of Turkish ambassadors in the eastern city of Erzurum on Friday (January 7th). Participants outlined the challenges and problems affecting Greek-Turkish bilateral relations. Papandreou said that trust is difficult to develop, but stressed the importance of Greek-Turkish friendship and voiced his belief that the two countries could make a radical change in their relations.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country wants peace, stability and prosperity in the world. “We have made a great progress in Turkey-Greece relations recently. We need to find a comprehensive solution to the problems in the Aegean. I believe that we will achieve peace in the Aegean. This includes mutual flights,” he said. Erdogan also stated it was time to find a fair and comprehensive solution to the Cyprus issue.