Samaras and Erdogan sign 25 deals in Istanbul, see win-win situation in Aegean
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed 25 bilateral agreements in Istanbul on Monday, as the Greek premier said that the two sides aimed to put “economic growth at the service of peace.”
Samaras and Erdogan spoke to journalist briefly after their talks and the meeting of a High-Level Cooperation Council involving a number of other ministers.
“Today is a good day for Greek-Turkish relations,” said Samaras, who added that the two countries’ relationship was not “fully aligned” and “careful steps” had to be taken to build trust.
The issue if oil and gas exploration in the Aegean was one of the key issues on the agenda and both leaders made brief references to it after Athens and Ankara recently sent diplomatic notes to the United Nations to complain about the other side’s stance on the issue.
Samaras said that the continental shelf rights Greece has as a result of the Law of the Sea are “clear.” Erdogan said the two sides would be in a win-win situation if they could come to an agreement on the issue.
