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Greece backs Turkey's EU membership bid

Xinhua, May 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Greece supports Turkey's bid for the European Union (EU) membership, visiting Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said Tuesday.

Speaking at his joint press conference in the Turkish capital Ankara with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Kocias reiterated Greece's support of Turkey's bid for the EU membership, but underscored that Athens favored seeing Turkey accept and implement all EU rules.

"We also want to see the EU acknowledging the richness of the Turkish culture and its people. We want the EU to see and embrace Turkey's political views," he said.

Both Kocias and Cavusoglu also announced a fresh agreement on confidence-building measures to boost security in the Aegean Sea, in a move to launch a new era in bilateral ties.

"We have agreed on a number of confidence-building measures to prevent the occurrence of unwanted accidents as a result of military activities in the Aegean," Cavusoglu said.

Kocias said the agreement included nine technical measures aimed at reducing the tension in the Aegean Sea and resolving existing problems between the two countries.

"Our main objective is to bring Turkish and Greek people closer together, to improve relations, and to turn the Aegean Sea into a 'friendly' and conflict-free sea. We are continuing our efforts to resolve existing problems amongst the two countries through dialogue," Cavusoglu said.

The Greek foreign minister also held separate meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during his visit. Endit