Mitsotakis, Erdogan conclude high-profile meeting in Istanbul, amid shadow of war in Ukraine

A high-profile meeting in Istanbul on Sunday between visiting Greek Prime Minister and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hosted an informal lunch for the former, lasted for roughly one hour at the landmark Vahdettin Mansion.

Speaking after the meeting, media reports from Athens cited Greek government sources as saying both sides referred to the need to de-escalate of tension between the two neighboring countries, and to support stability in the east Mediterranean amid the war in Ukraine.

The same sources, who conveyed Athens’ “spin” over results of the meeting, were also quoted as saying that Mitsotakis agreed a meeting next month in order to broach more CBMs between Athens and Ankara, while qualifying, “…as long as there is no escalation of tension.”

Another item to emerge, against via the “source” mode, is that the Greek and Turkish leaders agreed to hold another high-level cooperation council meeting in the autumn, to be held in Athens. The latter is essentially a meeting of ministers under the auspices of either side’s foreign ministry.

The private lunch was arranged to coincide with Mitsotakis’ private visit to Istanbul in order to attend a festal church service at the Christian Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate, on the occasion of the ecclesiastical feast day of the Sunday of Orthodoxy.

The impetus for the meeting, despite frosty official relations between Ankara and Athens over the past two and a half years, is the invasion and war in Ukraine, and related security developments in the east Mediterranean.

“With all that is occurring, we have many things to discuss about our region,” Mitsotakis said, with Erdogan adding “we’ll discuss everything”.

Mitsotakis and his government have nevertheless cautioned against expecting too much from the meeting, as Athens considers that Turkey’s unilateral claims and often belligerent behavior will not be overcome with such a one-off contact.

Conversely, the Greek side has repeatedly cited several points on a so-called “positive agenda”, in terms of bilateral ties, which can lead to an improvement in relations.

Before the meeting, Greek government sources said the Russian invasion of Ukraine had dramatically altered the security situation in Europe, resulting in the explicit condemnation, by the international community, of any form of expansionism and revisionism – a not-so-subtle nod towards Turkey.

Before the meeting, Mitsotakis was among the congregants who attended a divine liturgy officiated by Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, at the patriarchal cathedral of St. George, within the Patriarchate’s Phanar-district compound.

A private meeting in the early afternoon was scheduled between the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Greek prime minister at the Greek consulate in Istanbul, the well-known Sismanoglio Mansion. He was due to return to Athens in the early evening.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate has been based in the Bosporus metropolis for more than 1,500 years and predates the Ottoman conquest of the imperial city.