Roundup: Turkey, Greece agree to work on Aegean issues, Cyprus

Turkey and Greece have agreed to continue working on resolving long-running differences over disputed rights in Aegean Sea as well as on divided island Cyprus during the visit of Greek foreign minister to Ankara this week.

"As part of confidence building measures in our meetings, we have discussed measures that will prevent unintended accidents stemming from military activities in Aegean," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a joint press meeting with his visiting Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias on Tuesday.

He said their goal is to turn the Aegean into a sea of friendship.

The Turkish foreign minister stated that both sides have agreed on a series of measures that are believed to increase the security in the sea. He did not elaborate on them further.

The Aegean dispute is one of the long-running and the most controversial problems between Greece and Turkey over sovereignty in the Aegean Sea.

Disagreements over the status of disputed islands, territorial waters and national airspace over Aegean have been lingering for decades.

The two countries came to the brink of war in 1987 and in early 1996 when Turkish and Greek forces confronted near Kardak, an islet that is also known as Imia.

For his part, Greek Foreign Minister Kotzias said Greece has been trying to improve its ties with Turkey based on friendship and international law.

Ariana Ferentinou, Greek expert based in Istanbul, said the first official visit by Kotzias is important because the Greek foreign minister insists on bilateral dialogue with Turkey.

She underlined that Kotzias has deep knowledge on the intricacies of Turkish-Greek relations since the time he served as an advisor to former foreign minister George Papandreou in the late 1990s.

Since Ankara and Athens have a longstanding dispute over territorial borders in the Aegean, warplanes from both sides regularly engage in mock dogfights.

In March, two Greek F-16s and one military helicopter violated Turkish airspace over the Aegean Sea, the Turkish General Staff announced. It prompted a scrambling of two Turkish F-16s to intercept Greek jets, intercepting the Greek F-16s.

Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement, asking the Greek government to display common sense.

"It is clear that the continuation of these irresponsible actions will not serve any purpose other than increasing tensions in the Turkish and Greek relations and in the Aegean," the statement noted.

The recent flare of tension between Turkey and Greece came on the heels of a visit by Greek Defense Minister Panagiotis Kammenos who decided to drop a wreath on the sea from a helicopter on Jan. 30 in remembrance of soldiers who died in the Kardak military crisis.

Kammenos assumed his post after the victory of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of the left-wing Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA).

However, the confrontation with Turkey has added more woes on increased defense spending in Greece, which is already facing huge financial and economic difficulties.

On Wednesday, former Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis admitted that 1996 crisis with Turkey prompted his government to procure more fighter jets and submarines to create deterrence with Turkey.

Turkish and Greek foreign ministers have also talked about progress in talks over the disputed island of Cyprus that will be resumed on Friday.

"Kotzias visits Turkey at a crucial moment regarding Cyprus; just after the election of Mustafa Akinci as president of the Turkish Cypriots and while intercommunal talks seem to be to re-starting," Ferentinou said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu predicted that 2015 is a good opportunity to solve Cyprus problem.

Turkey is the only nation that considers the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state as an independent nation. The move came after Turkey intervened into the Island in 1974 in response to coup by militant Greek Cypriots.

Greek foreign minister was received by both President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and he attended the NATO military alliance's foreign ministers meeting in Turkish resort city Antalya on Wednesday. Endit