On Oct. 30, Erdoğan sent a letter to Papandreou, whose party came to power that same month, expressing Turkey’s readiness to resolve problems with Greece as part of his government’s policy of zero problems with neighbors and outlining a set of proposals for a settlement of Turkish-Greek disputes, including complicated territorial problems in the Aegean and Cyprus.
Papandreou has put the finishing touches on his letter, and the document will reach Ankara by today, according to reports in the Greek media, which also claim the Greek premier positively responds to Erdoğan’s call to resolve the problems but also outlines the Greek position on the issues of disagreement.
According to reports, citing Greek diplomatic sources, Papandreou will mostly repeat Greece’s traditional arguments concerning the Aegean disputes in his letter and will dismiss Erdoğan’s call for a comprehensive discussion of the territorial disagreements, arguing that efforts to resolve the disputes in the Aegean should be limited to resolving disagreements over the definition of its continental shelf.
Often only a few kilometers separate the Turkish mainland from Greek islands in the Aegean, which has led to difficulties in defining the two countries’ territory. Turkey says Greek attempts to extend its territorial waters would turn the Aegean into a Greek-dominated region.
The Aegean neighbors have a shaky relationship and came to the brink of war three times between 1974 and 1996 over Cyprus and territorial rights in the Aegean Sea. Papandreou championed rapprochement between Greece and Turkey when he served as foreign minister between 1999 and 2004.
Improved relations followed devastating earthquakes that hit both countries in 1999 and sparked mutual sympathy among Greeks and Turks.
