Fragogiannis – Cavusoglu talk in Doha: What the positive agenda augurs

“Greece did not help Turkey expecting something in return,” Nikos Dendias said on February 21st during the visit of his American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, to Athens. The Greek FM made sure to underscore in all tones the need to resume the Greece-Turkey dialogue.

After all, Blinken’s statements from Athens had many references to the immediate response of Greece and the sending of aid after the deadly earthquakes to the neighbor, underlining the solidarity and patriotism of the Greeks.

Tempi

Turkey has returned solidarity with statements and support from both the officials and the people of the country, to Greece after the train accident in Tempi, which shocked Greece.

Is a dialogue table being set?

With everyone questioning – even if some call it premature – whether the solidarity on both sides that caused a mood change and drowned out the threats and belligerent rhetoric can create ground to be “laid” and a table for dialogue so that the momentum is not lost.

The occasion for a first discussion on how the two sides can go about re-heating the dialogue seems to have been given in Doha, where the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries is being held.

Meeting between Fragogiannis and Cavusoglu in Doha

The government is represented by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy and External Affairs, Costas Fragogiannis, while the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, is taking part in the Conference on behalf of Ankara.

On the sidelines of the conference, Cavusoglu and Fragogiannis met and according to information, the developments of the last few weeks in Turkey and Greece and the resumption of the positive agenda, which had been postponed until the summer of 2022, were at the center of their discussion.

Positive agenda

The positive agenda includes 25 topics, in economic, business and commercial sectors of the two countries and is considered perhaps the most “painless” dialogue table, since it does not include issues of a national nature.

With the positive agenda between the two countries possibly being an ideal opportunity, if possible, to start the dialogue from the table in question even before the elections.

Maintaining the momentum

Even if competent sources estimate that it will be extremely difficult until the elections in Greece and Turkey to hold a meeting, in the context of the exploratory or Confidence Building Measures, the positive agenda could be an ideal field in order not to lose the momentum.

Even if it has not yet been possible to overcome reticence in Athens about how long the moratorium of calm brought about by climate change can last.

New thanks from Cavusoglu

It should be noted that the Turkish Foreign Minister, from the floor of the UN conference in Doha, thanked once again the countries that showed their solidarity to his country after the deadly earthquakes of February 6.

“Sincere international solidarity warms our hearts and gives us strength. The least developed countries were among the first to offer support and solidarity in the darkest days. We know that this helping hand is, in some cases, a significant sacrifice. The Turkish nation will never forget this. Your solidarity after the earthquakes showed once again that you are the most developed and generous at heart. Your brothers in Turkey thank you,” he said.

Dendias in Istanbul

On Sunday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, was in Istanbul to attend the Divine Liturgy for the Sunday of Orthodoxy, who also had formal communication with his Turkish counterpart, according to diplomatic sources.

In the Patriarchal Church of Agios Georgios, a memorial service was also held for the victims of the train accident in Tempi, as well as for the victims of the dead in Turkey and Syria.

During his stay in Constantinople, Dendias was received by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew with whom he had an in-depth discussion about the work of the Patriarchate around the world.