Papandreou visits grave of old friend İsmail Cem

On the grave, Papandreou left a branch which he cut off from an olive tree he and Cem had planted in Greece together. Cem's family accompanied Papandreou during the visit.

Papandreou, who is also handling his government's foreign affairs, arrived in İstanbul to attend an informal meeting of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SECCP), which was hosted by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.

Ahead of Papandreou's visit, Davutoğlu also visited Cem's grave and prayed there. Speaking to reporters, Davutoğlu pledged that Cem's efforts for improved friendship between Greece and Turkey would be continued, while appreciating Papandreou's kind gesture in visiting Cem's grave.

Papandreou served in the education and culture posts under his father and as deputy foreign minister. In 1999, he was promoted to foreign minister after his predecessor, Theodoros Pangalos was forced to resign over a botched attempt to harbor Abdullah Öcalan, the now-jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been blamed for the deaths of more than 30,000 people. After Öcalan was captured by Turkey, Papandreou was charged with mending relations with the neighboring country.

He forged close personal ties with his Turkish counterpart at the time, Cem, and presided over a period of rapprochement. The two countries came to one another's assistance in devastating earthquakes that struck first İstanbul and Athens a month later in 1999.

“We must free Cyprus of the walls which have no place in the European Union,” Papandreou told reporters on Friday, in reference to a demarcation line that divides the island's Turkish and Greek communities. “If we are successful, this will be a sign for the whole world, a sign for peace,” he said.

Also on Friday, Papandreou visited Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew, whose international role as the spiritual leader of hundreds of millions of Orthodox Christians worldwide is not recognized by Turkey. Ankara rejects his use of the title “ecumenical,” or universal, arguing instead that the patriarch is merely the spiritual leader of İstanbul's dwindling Orthodox community.

Bartholomew said the Greek prime minister's arrival in Turkey for his first foreign visit was “a symbol of the importance he attaches to Turkish-Greek friendship.”