ATHENS: Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis will meet his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Athens on Nov. 8 to discuss bilateral issues including the demarcation of an exclusive economic zone, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.
Greece and Turkiye, NATO allies but historic foes, have been at odds for decades over matters ranging from airspace to maritime jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean, energy resources and ethnically split Cyprus.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said last week he believed relations with Greece were improving and that the Gerapetritis-Fidan meeting was aimed at finding solutions to issues such as maritime zones and airspace.
The foreign ministers have been tasked with exploring whether conditions were favorable to initiate talks on the demarcation of the continental shelf and economic zone, Gerapetritis said last month.
An agreement on where their maritime zones begin and end is important for determining rights over possible gas reserves and power infrastructure schemes.
A high-level cooperation council, at which the countries will assess progress, is expected to take place in Ankara in January.
Separately, the leaders of estranged Greek and Turkish Cypriots were expected to meet informally with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York on Tuesday.
Cyprus was split decades ago in a Turkish invasion after a brief Greek-inspired coup, and preceded by years of sporadic violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Reunification talks collapsed in mid-2017 and have been at a stalemate since.
Greek, Turkish foreign ministers to meet on Nov. 8, sources say
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Greek, Turkish foreign ministers to meet on Nov. 8, sources say
’Level of violence’ in US ‘worrying’, Merz says after Minneapolis shooting
- German foreign ministry warned travelers to the United States to be “vigilant”
HAMBURG: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday called the “level of violence” in the United States “worrying” after US federal officers fatally shot a second protester in Minneapolis.
“I assume that the American authorities will now really investigate whether it was necessary to shoot... whether there really was a threat to the officers involved,” Merz said.
“In any case, I have to say that I find this level of violence in the US worrying, to put it mildly.”
Earlier on Monday, the German foreign ministry warned travelers to the United States to be “vigilant” and exercise increased caution because of “violent clashes with immigration and security authorities” in Minneapolis and other US cities.
“Remain calm and follow the instructions of the authorities and local security forces,” the updated travel advisory urges.
On Saturday, US Border Patrol officers shot and killed 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti on the fringes of a deportation raid in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Less than three weeks earlier, an ICE immigration officer shot and killed Renee Good, a mother of three, in the same city.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has sent thousands of federal officers to the Minneapolis area in a weeks-long operation that has been marked by mass protests.
