Turkish-Greek friendship can bring stability to the region, says Papandreou

Former Greek Prime Minister Yorgos Papandreou stated that the friendship between Türkiye and Greece could and should be a stabilising factor for the region.

Pointing out that the cooperation and dialogue between the two countries has gained new political dimensions, Papandreou said: "The Türkiye-Greece (friendship) relationship can and should become an element of stability for the immediate region."

Papandreou also referred to the friendship steps taken with former Foreign Minister İsmail Cem during his term as Foreign Minister and reminded that he and Cem had visited Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Noting that dozens of bilateral agreements have been signed since then in the fields of migration, energy, transport, economy and culture, Papandreou wrote: "In May 2010, I hosted my then counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Athens for the first High Level Cooperation Council (HLC) meeting between Türkiye and Greece. We worked for a new cooperation relationship."

Papandreou continued:

"Athens will once again host (President) Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 7 December, 7 years after the last YDIK, for another YDIK meeting. Today, as then, there is hope for a relationship between the two countries that will ultimately lead to lasting peace."

Papandreou stated that such visits could not be expected to produce an immediate solution and added that "based on his experience, dialogue has a lot of positive results".

"Dialogue helps to identify the real problems and to avoid unrealistic assessments influenced by social explosions, it helps to understand real fears as well as to identify common national and geopolitical interests," Papandreou said.

Stating that mutual respect is a must, Papandreou said in his article: "In foreign policy, it is easy to destroy, but difficult to build."