ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece and Türkiye will explore whether they can start talks aimed at demarcating their maritime zones, Greece’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Neighbours Greece and Turkey, both NATO allies but historic enemies, have been at odds for decades over a range of issues from airspace to maritime jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean to ethnically divided Cyprus.
An agreement on where their maritime zones begin and end is important to determine rights to potential gas reserves and energy infrastructure schemes.
Tensions have eased in recent years and the two countries agreed last year to reset their relations, pledging to keep channels of communication open and work on issues that have kept them apart.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan met on Tuesday on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York and discussed bilateral relations, according to statements by the Turkish presidency and the Greek Foreign Ministry.
“The two leaders tasked the foreign ministers with exploring whether conditions are favourable for starting discussions on the demarcation of the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone,” Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said.
The foreign ministers of both countries will begin preparations for a high-level meeting to be held in Ankara in January, the Greek prime minister’s office said.