The Greek Foreign Minister, Mr George Papandreou, and his Turkish counterpart, Mr Ismail Cem, have agreed to exchange visits in an effort to improve strained relations between the two Aegean neighbours.
The two ministers met on the sidelines of the Balkans summit in Skopje, which has been overshadowed by the crisis in Turkey. The two men discussed exchanging visits on a regular basis as part of a package of measures to forge better ties. They agreed to a joint trip in May to the Greek island of Samos and the nearby Turkish coastal town of Kusadasi.
The Turkish Prime Minister, Mr Bulent Ecevit, met his Greek counterpart, Mr Costas Simitis, yesterday and they toasted each other. Relations between Greece and Turkey have been improving in recent years. A series of agreements on trade, tourism and the environment, among others, are waiting to be ratified by both parliaments.
Meanwhile, Greek and Macedonian efforts at the summit to resolve a 10-year dispute over the name of the former Yugoslav republic appear to have stumbled over concerns about public reaction.