Türkiye hopes for Aegean, Mediterranean to be 'sea of friendship': Defense chief

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye on Tuesday expressed its desire to make Aegean and Mediterranean "seas of friendship and solidarity," according to the country's defence chief.

Hulusi Akar in a joint news conference with his Greek counterpart Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos in the quake-hit southern Hatay province said Türkiye is "striving" to have good relations with its neighbor Greece.

There are some "problems" between the two countries, Akar said, noting: "As two civilized countries, Türkiye and Greece can address these problems in line with a spirit of alliances, via a peaceful manner, mutual respect, and dialogue."

"We believe that this would be mutually beneficial," he said.

For his part, Panagiotopoulos also voiced the will to establish stability in bilateral relations, and said tragedies such as earthquakes show "how small" the existing problems are between Greece and Türkiye.

On Feb. 6, magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 Turkish provinces. Around 14 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the quakes.

"The world has been facing challenges in terms of security recently," he also stressed, adding that the two countries must work together against such security challenges.