Greece, Turkey agree to recognize each other’s COVID-19 vaccine certificates

ANKARA/ATHENS

Turkey and Greece agreed to recognize each other’s COVID-19 vaccine certificates, the foreign ministers of the two countries announced on Monday.

“The agreement we reached today will mutually contribute positively to our tourism sectors,” Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a joint news conference with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias in Athens.

Turkey has started to work on concrete projects with a focus on action and cooperation with the Greek side and the two countries agreed on 25 items in the list of areas of cooperation including in transport, energy, environment, tourism, and trade, Cavusoglu said.

He said Turkey is ready for dialogue without any preconditions to improve bilateral relations with Greece.

“We agreed to resolve differences within the framework of good neighborly relations, international law and respect for mutual interests,” he said.

Cavusoglu said the fifth round of meeting on confidence-building measures between Turkish and Greek defense delegations is scheduled to be held in Turkey’s capital Ankara.

Dendias, for his part, said they discussed bilateral relations as well as the EU- Turkey relations in the meeting.

He stressed that the two sides are fully aware of their diametrically opposed positions they have, and said: "The purpose of today’s meeting is to attempt an initial negotiation process and if possible, a gradual normalization of the situation over time.”

He also said that today's meeting was an opportunity to agree on a meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO Summit on June 14.

The Greek foreign minister said that the two sides also agreed on a list of economic cooperation programs.

He congratulated also Cavusoglu over Turkish basketball team Anadolu Efes’ victory in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.

Before meeting his Greek counterpart, the Turkish foreign minister also met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“Revitalization of our dialogue channels is a positive step. Enhancing our relations is important to solve our differences,” he said on Twitter.