Greece and Turkey press ahead with talks in effort to smooth often volatile relations

abcnews.go.com:

The foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey say that recent efforts to smooth the frequently volatile ties between the neighboring countries and regional rivals are bearing fruit, although significant differences remain, notably over maritime boundaries...

ATHENS, Greece — Recent efforts to smooth the frequently volatile ties between neighbors and regional rivals Greece and Turkey are bearing fruit, their foreign ministers said Friday, although significant differences remain between the two countries as they seek ways to prevent spats from escalating dangerously.

Despite both being members of NATO, Greece and Turkey have been at loggerheads for decades over a long series of issues, including complex maritime boundary disputes that led them to the brink of war in 1987 and in 1996. In 2020, tension over drilling rights led to Greek and Turkish warships shadowing each other in the eastern Mediterranean.

Over the past 16 months, the two sides have made concerted efforts to reduce tensions, with the Greek and Turkish leaders meeting six times. Last December, the two countries signed more than a dozen cooperation deals during a meeting in Athens between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“I am not claiming that through the dialogue we have developed, all the problems in the two countries' relations have been magically resolved,” Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said in statements to the media after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Athens. The ministers didn't take any questions.

“There were indeed difficult moments during the past year,” Gerapetritis said. “But in all cases, there was an immediate and honest channel that prevented escalation.”