Post-quake climate allows restart of dialogue between Ankara, Athens: Greek foreign minister

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - The climate that emerged following the Feb. 6 earthquakes in Türkiye, during which Greece became one of the first countries to offer aid, allows Athens to restart its dialogue with Ankara, the Greek foreign minister said Thursday.

Even though both countries are now preparing for general elections, which limits the chances of making long-term moves, it is still possible to restart negotiations on confidence-building measures or explanatory talks, Nikos Dendias said during an interview with Skai TV, one of the country’s major private broadcasters.

Underlining that now a positive climate is prevailing in bilateral relations thanks to contributions by both parties, he said: “For me, the main task right now is not finding solutions, it is protecting the (positive) climate.”

When he was reminded about the tensions between the two countries before the quakes, Dendias said: “I want to stick to the positive part: that at the moment, there is an excellent climate. Within this climate, I think unified approaches to extremely difficult issues can be built.”

He added that Greek aid to Türkiye through the sending of rescue teams and relief materials was purely humanistic without having any secondary goals.