Mediaboss Marketing

Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis and Turkish President Erdogan had a productive meeting in Istanbul on Sunday. Credit: Press Office of Greek Prime Minister

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Sunday afternoon.

Mitsotakis first arrived in Istanbul on Sunday morning, attending church services with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at Saint George Cathedral, one of the most important churches in Orthodox Christianity.

Erdogan then hosted his Greek counterpart for lunch at his presidential residence, during which the pair discussed pressing issues of foreign policy and diplomacy for nearly two hours.

As confirmed by the Turkish Presidency, the two leaders focused much of their discussion on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has stunned Europe and the world. Both Greece and Turkey have denounced the war.

The pair agreed to reduce tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in the wake of the war in Ukraine. The goal of both leaders is to provide stability in the region at this time.

They also agreed that the two countries should work toward better communication in the future and avoid provocative rhetoric.

The neighboring countries will also aim to strengthen their economic bonds, with Turkish President Erdogan even suggesting that the two continue their conversation on the topic during another meeting in the coming months.

Video of the two leaders before their meal showed Erdogan and Mitsotakis having a friendly conversation, aided by an interpreter. Neither of the leaders wore a tie, highlighting the casual tone of the meeting.

Before the meeting, Mitsotakis stated that he had realistic and measured expectations from todays conversation, indicating that the meeting was not meant to mend the rocky relationship between the two countries, but to foster better understanding and cooperation.

Yet it seems that the meeting may have laid the groundwork for a period of better relations between the two countries which share a long and turbulent history. Rather than as enemies, the two leaders approached the conversation as allies.

Later in the afternoon, Mitsotakis will meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew yet again at the Greek consulate in the Turkish city.

Read the original:
Mitsotakis and Erdogan Agree to Reduce Tensions in Istanbul - Greek Reporter

Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu pose for a photograph in Turkey on Saturday. BSS photo

Dhaka and Ankara have agreed that foreign ministries of the two countries would work together for a bilateral visit of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Bangladesh within this year.

This was revealed at a bilateral meeting between Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on the side-line of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey on Saturday, a foreign ministry press release said on Sunday.

During the meeting, Momen discussed the issue of Rohingya crisis in details while Turkish foreign minister assured to continue his governments support for the forcibly displaced Rohingyas.

At the invitation of Bangladesh foreign minister Cavusoglu, informed that he would soon visit Bangladesh at a mutually convenient time.

Momen paid a one-day official visit to Tukey on Saturday to join second Antalya Diplomacy Forum, attended by several other foreign ministers from Asian countries held in Antalya.

On the side-line, Momen also held bilateral meeting with foreign ministers of Austria and Kyrgyz Republic.

During the meeting with Austrian foreign minister Alexander Schallenberg, Momen discussed the issue of joint celebration of the golden jubilee of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In line with the last months telephone meeting between prime ministers of Bangladesh and Austria, the two foreign ministers discussed ways for further augmenting the bilateral relations.

At his meeting with Kyrgyz foreign minister Ruslan Kazakbaev Aitbaevich, Momen flagged the potential of increasing trade between the two countries.

The Bangladeshi foreign minister assured his Kyrgyz counterpart that Dhaka would be willing to work together with Kyrgyz Republic in the coming days to increase relations between the two countries in the areas of trade, connectivity and people to people contact.

Executive director of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia Kairat Sarybay also called on Bangladesh foreign minister.

During the meeting, the CICA executive director explained the recent activities of the inter-government organisation while Momen emphasised on the importance of a peaceful and stable Asia for its prosperous.

The view that the role of CICA, where Bangladesh is a member, should play an active role in this regard, the foreign minister observed.

Original post:
Erdogan to visit Bangladesh this year - newagebd.net

Turkey and Israel can work together to carry Israeli natural gas to Europe and the two countries will discuss energy cooperation during talks next month, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying on Friday.

The two countries expelled their ambassadors in 2018 after a bitter falling-out. Ties have remained tense since, with Ankara condemning Israel's occupation of the West Bank and its policy toward Palestinians, while Israel has called on Turkey to drop support for the militant Palestinian group Hamas which rules Gaza.

However, Turkey has been working to repair its strained ties with regional powers as part of a charm offensive launched in 2020. In an apparent easing after years of animosity, Erdogan said on Thursday that Israeli President Isaac Herzog would visit Turkey in mid-March.

"We can use Israeli natural gas in our country, and beyond using it, we can also engage in a joint effort on its passage to Europe," Erdogan told reporters on a return flight from Ukraine.

"Now, God willing, these issues will be on our agenda with Mr Herzog during their visit to Turkey," he was quoted by Turkish TV media as saying. Erdogan had visited Ukraine to discuss the crisis there.

While Erdogan has spoken to Herzog amid tensions before, the Israeli presidency is a largely ceremonial role. In November, he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the first such call in years.

Erdogan on Wednesday met Nachirvan Barzani, the president of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Asked what was discussed, Erdogan said Ankara wants to sign a natural gas supply deal with Iraq and is holding talks on this.

"We have now taken the Iraq issue on our agenda. We are now thinking about it. There may be a supply on the natural gas side from Iraq to Turkey," Erdogan said, adding Barzani had promised to facilitate talks.

View post:
Erdogan says Turkey, Israel can cooperate on bringing gas ...

A vendor waits for customers at his stall in a street market in Istanbul, Turkey, January 4, 2022. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo

Register

ANKARA, Jan 29 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan repeated his unorthodox economic policy on Saturday, saying interest rates would be lowered further and inflation would fall as a result, days before inflation data for January is announced, adding Turkey's economic woes would pass.

Embroiled in a currency crisis fuelled by the central bank's move to slash rates by 500 basis points since September as part of an economic model engineered by Erdogan, Turkey saw December inflation soar to its highest level in Erdogan's 19-year rule.

A Reuters poll on Friday showed it is expected to hit a near 20-year high of 47% in January. read more

"You know of my battle with interest rates. We are lowering interest rates and we will lower them. Know that inflation will fall too then, it will fall more," Erdogan told supporters in the Black Sea province of Giresun.

"Exchange rate will stabilise and inflation will fall, prices will fall too, all of these are temporary."

Register

Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; editing by Jason Neely

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

See the original post:
Erdogan says interest rates will be lowered and inflation ...

For a few days now, we have been living in a different world. No one, neither veteran politician Henry Kissinger nor public intellectual Yuval Noah Harari, can predict what this world will be like when the dust settles and we can see what dawns.

The tragedy unfolding in Ukraine will surely affect us here in Greece as well. I constantly hear people around me worried about whether Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will try something similar in Greece. It is certainly very difficult to get into Erdogans mind, much like Vladimir Putins mind.

The truth is that the scenario of an incident caused by Turkey worried me a lot, especially in view of the impasses at which the Turkish leader finds himself. The crisis in Ukraine will act as a deterrent. First of all, because the revisionism and changing borders with the use of force can no longer be accepted. The hypocrisy and flexibility that some of our partners showed until recently with regard to Turkey, and the possibility of turning a blind eye to such an incident in the future are minimal. Double standards cannot exist not in this environment. Borders do not change with the use of violence in Europe.

But something else has changed as well: the role of European public opinion and social media. Until recently, social media created instability within the West itself, as we saw with former US president Donald Trump and Brexit. Now, they have pushed European leaders to make decisions that one could not have imagined a while ago. In a special way, they strengthen the underdog and target the attacker.

Erdogan would have to face all this if he tried something in the Aegean. No cynical or hypocritical European leadership could stop the backlash. Greece also has a huge stock of soft power, it has friends, it has its diaspora, it has people who love it for different reasons.

Of course, soft power is good, but it is not enough. We need alliances and defense shields, which we have and work for as a country, so we can sleep peacefully at night. But we may have gained some time and peace with our neighbors, at least for a while. At least thats what a reasonable mind would think.

An over-optimistic mind might even think that in such turmoil, opportunities are created for an agreed period of calm. But who can tell us what is in Erdogans mind?

Follow this link:
In the mind of Erdogan - Kathimerini English Edition