Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar met with his Greek counterpart Nikos Panagiotopoulos on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels and discussed maintaining dialogue to ease recently heightened tensions, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Thursday, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.
The ministry also said the two discussed keeping communication lines open to solve problems and that focusing on positive bilateral agendas contributes to good neighborly relations.
The discussion in Brussels between Akar and Panagiotopoulos focused on the “importance of continuing the dialogue in order to reduce tensions,” according to a ministry statement.
They discussed the need to keep channels of communication open to focus on a positive agenda and bilateral and regional cooperation, according to the statement.
“The problems between the two countries cannot be solved without talks, meetings, visits and dialogue. We want dialogue,” Akar said.
He also criticized Greece for discussing Turkiye-Greece problems with the European Union rather than Ankara.
“They try to make it seem like our bilateral issues are the issues of the EU, the U.S. or NATO,” Akar said, adding that including third parties in the problem will not help solve it.