Samaras travels to Istanbul for talks with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is due to conduct on Monday his first visit to Turkey since becoming Greek prime minister. He will meet in Istanbul with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the country’s President Abdullah Gul.
The country’s two foreign ministers, Dimitris Avramopoulos and Ahmet Davutoglu held a preparatory meeting on Sunday. It is expected that as many as 20 bilateral agreements will be signed on Monday.
Buoyed by the findings of a Norwegian petroleum company that pointed to the existence of fuel deposits in the Ionian Sea and south of Crete, Samaras is expected to broach the issue of territorial waters during talks with Erdogan.
Ankara is opposed to Greece exploring for oil and gas in the Aegean until a dispute over the delineation of the continental shelf has been resolved. Samaras has accused Ankara of invoking international law to defend its rights without having ratified that law though he insists that Greece wants to settle its differences with Turkey peacefully.
Other issues expected to be discussed during the second session of the Greek-Turkish High Level Cooperation Council are Erdogan’s objection to the Greek state’s appointment of muftis for the Muslim minority in Thrace, northern Greece, and stalled plans for the construction of a state mosque in Athens.
Samaras will be accompanied by several officials including Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos and Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias.
