Turkey's deputy prime minister Mesut Yilmaz left for Greece Thursday for talks aimed at rebuilding confidence after a recent spat over joint NATO military exercises, the Anatolia news agency said.
During a two-day stay in Athens, Yilmaz will meet Prime Minister Costas Simitis, President Costis Stephanopoulos, former prime minister Constantin Mitsotakis and Athens mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos.
"In my meetings, I will underline my satisfaction over the improvement in the past one year in Turkish-Greek relations," the deputy prime minister said before his departure.
He will also participate in a meeting of the Turco-Greek business council, a non-governmental group promoting bilateral trade.
Bilateral tensions flared two weeks ago after Greece pulled out of NATO war games in Turkey after a quarrel with Ankara over disputed air corridors over the Aegean Sea.
Turkish and Greek officials said after the row that it should not be allowed to affect the burgeoning rapprochement between the two states.
Traditionally tense ties between Ankara and Athens have improved significantly since the two countries launched a tentative dialogue process on secondary issues last year and helped each other in the wake of deadly earthquakes in August and September 1999.
"Our hope is that the bilateral dialogue will continue and the subsequent atmosphere of cooperation and trust will facilitate the discussion and, eventually, the settlement of complex and difficult issues," Yilmaz said Thursday.
Despite the warming of ties, Turkey and Greece are still at odds over on sovereignty disputes in the Aegean and the long-divided island of Cyprus – ANKARA (AFP)
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