Austrian minister thanks Turkey for resuming excavation

By Askin Kiyagan

VIENNA (AA) - Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl on Thursday thanked Turkey for allowing Austrian archeologists to resume their excavations in the ancient city of Ephesus in western Turkey.

In posts made on her official Twitter account, Kneissl said she was “delighted” to see that the team would be able to resume its “important work” in Ephesus.

“Thank you Mevlut Cavusoglu for this good and concrete result of our first meeting in Istanbul last January,” she said.

Turkey had halted the works of the archeologists, which had been ongoing for more than 100 years in the ancient city, in October 2016 due to the recent tension between the two countries.

The ties between the two countries had soured due to restrictions imposed by Austrian authorities on Turkish politicians who wanted to campaign in the country ahead of a key referendum in Turkey.

The relations have improved when Kneissl paid a visit to Turkey in January this year and two countries agreed to take some decisions in order to normalize the relations during Cavusoglu’s visit to the country in return in March.