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Greek PM in historic Turkish trip Greece calls for new Turkey start
(about 17 hours later)
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has arrived in Turkey in the first official visit there by leader of Greece for almost five decades. Greek PM Costas Karamanlis has called for past difficulties with Turkey to be put aside, on the first visit to Ankara by a Greek leader in almost 50 years.
The landmark three-day visit is being seen by both sides as an important step towards improving relations. The three-day visit is the most significant attempt to improve relations between the two countries.
The trip's symbolic importance is clear; the last official visit to Turkey by a Greek prime minister was made in 1959. Although few signs of progress emerged on major issues, especially Cyprus, the leaders said ties were strengthened.
What is less clear is the amount of substance such a trip can have. Mr Karamanlis added that Greece wanted to see Turkey as a member of the EU once it had met its EU obligations.
Despite its symbolism, there is little expectation in either Athens or Ankara that this visit will bring any speedy resolution to the many longstanding disputes between the two nations. Specific results were not expected from the visit, but correspondents describe it as a public commitment to keep talking.
Mutual suspicion 'Look to the future'
Those include the status of the divided island of Cyprus, and territorial disputes in, and over, the Aegean which brought the two countries to the brink of war just over a decade ago. Mr Karamanlis's meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lasted over an hour longer than planned, and their news conference was also unusually lengthy.
After years of mutual suspicion, at times turning into outright hostility, relations between Greece and Turkey have improved immensely in the past decade. Both men stressed the recent improvement in relations after years of mutual suspicion and hostility.
The two nations have opened a joint gas pipeline, trade relations have boomed, and "safe topics" such as economic ties are likely to feature high on the agenda of this visit. "I am here to show Greece's desire, which is to go beyond the difficulties of the past and to look towards the future with hope," Mr Karamanlis said.
However, serious political problems remain to be addressed, too, such as near-daily sorties by Turkish warplanes into disputed airspace over the Aegean and disputed sovereignty claims over dozens of rocky outcrops. Mr Erdogan said he thought the new year would present "new opportunities" for the two countries.
Cyprus sticking point They spoke of new ties on the economic, cultural and military fronts, but there was little sign of progress on the main political problems that divide them.
The divided island of Cyprus, where Turkey still stations its troops, remains a key sticking point for bilateral relations. EU ambitions
While in theory, the two countries have established a dialogue on these matters, in practice, that dialogue is frozen. Mr Erdogan called for Greek support to restart talks on the unification of Cyprus.
There is some hope Mr Karamanlis's visit may breathe life into that process. He said ending territorial disputes in the Aegean Sea - which brought the two countries to the brink of war just over a decade ago - must be a priority.
But with the core issues being so sensitive, and the two sides' positions on them still so far apart, any concrete results from this week's visit look unlikely. Mr Karamanlis called on Turkey to abide by international law in the Aegean and said that although Greece supported Turkey's ambitions to join the EU, it had many obligations to meet to make that possible.
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"Provided Turkey continues on the reform path and meets criteria... Europe must accept it as a full member of the European family," he said.
After years of mutual suspicion, at times turning into outright hostility, relations between Greece and Turkey have improved immensely in the past decade, says the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul.
The two nations have opened a joint gas pipeline and trade relations have boomed.
Are you in Greece, Turkey or Cyprus? What are you views on this visit? Please send your comments by using the form below: Name