Turkey’s high diplomat has agreed together with his Greek counterpart in Athens to maintain dialogue transferring ahead with the objective of resolving longstanding points which have introduced the 2 international locations to the brink of conflict previously.
International Minister Hakan Fidan embraced Greece’s George Gerapetritis after they met on Friday and launched statements on excellent points. They each expressed willingness to work on understanding the opposite aspect higher on “vital points”.
“We should seize the historic alternative forward of us and make the constructive local weather between our international locations everlasting. We should always rework our everlasting neighbour into an everlasting pal,” Fidan mentioned at a joint information convention with Gerapetritis.
“I’ve little doubt that we are able to obtain this objective with a honest and constructive strategy,” he added.
Greece and Turkey every declare an space within the Aegean Sea reaching 11km (about 7 miles) from their coastlines. Greece says it has a proper to broaden this space to 22km (14 miles) underneath United Nations guidelines, however Turkey warns that might result in battle.
Within the japanese Mediterranean, the dispute centres on unique financial zones, the place oil and different sources might be drilled.
No settlement however positivity
Migrants and asylum seekers are additionally a serious subject with the 2 international locations working to handle them higher collectively. Greece needs Turkey to clamp down extra on smugglers.
On the Greek island of Samos, a camp made for as much as 3,500 migrants and refugees is now holding greater than 4,000 individuals, in accordance with Christopher Wegener, a humanitarian employee with Medical doctors With out Borders, identified by its French acronym MSF.
“The camp’s inhabitants has drastically elevated since summer time, and proper now, we are able to see that persons are sleeping even in widespread areas like kitchens and lecture rooms,” he instructed Al Jazeera.
Movies despatched by migrants from contained in the camp present worn-out floorboards and unsanitary loos.
“Each room had a mattress for individuals. However proper now, there are eight individuals contained in the room, so we sleep on the bottom,” Abdullah, a Samos camp resident who requested that his final identify be withheld, instructed Al Jazeera.
Reporting from Athens, Al Jazeera’s John Psaropoulos mentioned there was no settlement on the primary points however there was a constructive vibe and discussions over what to incorporate in an utility to the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice in The Hague to arbitrate.
“Greece recognises solely the difficulty of the continental shelf boundary. Turkey needs territorial waters and different points included as nicely,” he defined.
Vehbi Baysan, assistant professor at Ibn Haldun College in Turkey, mentioned the problems date again a century however there may be political will to resolve them now.
“We’re additionally speaking concerning the vitality channelling from Center Japanese international locations after which going to Greece and to Central Europe right here in addition to main points like migration. It appears cooperation is totally vital between the 2 international locations, and now could be the suitable time,” he instructed Al Jazeera.
