The meeting between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York lasted one hour.

The tete-a-tete meeting of the two men took place at the “Turkish House”, the skyscraper located opposite the UN building in New York and a base for diplomatic missions and cultural organizations of Turkey in the US.

The two leaders exchanged handshakes and smiled in front of the cameras before the talks began. According to the information, the atmosphere was good; however, the fact that the statements of the two leaders were made separately and no joint announcement was made after the end of the meeting were noteworthy. It seems that a catalytic role was played by the fact that right before the meeting, the Turkish President asked for the recognition of occupied Cyprus from the UN General Assembly.

According to Maximos Palace’ announcement, the two leaders confirmed the positive atmosphere in the relations between Greece and Turkey and their strong will to maintain it. They agreed on the roadmap of the contacts of the two countries, as it was defined at the meeting of the Foreign Ministers on September 5. This includes: the mid-October meetings of those responsible for the political dialogue and the positive agenda of the Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the November meetings on the Confidence  Building Measures and the meeting of the Supreme Council of the Greece-Turkey Cooperation to be held on December 7 in Thessaloniki.

They also exchanged views on regional and international issues and discussed the climate crisis and its effects, especially in the Mediterranean region, as the two countries have recently experienced severe natural disasters. The two leaders agreed that strengthening cooperation in Civil Protection is a priority and also to work together to tackle the immigration issue, recognizing that it is a common challenge.

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The meeting was attended by the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Gerapetritis, and the director of the Prime Minister’s Diplomatic Office, Anna Maria Boura, and on the Turkish side, among others, by the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, and the diplomatic advisor of the President of Turkey, Akif Tsagatai Kilic.

Speaking to journalists immediately after the completion of the contacts, Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the discussion as constructive, saying that it would form the roadmap for the next steps.

I hope the meeting with Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will be beneficial for the country and the region, Erdogan said in a post on X, after the meeting was over, while an announcement of the Turkish presidency followed, in which the two leaders confirmed the current positive climate in the relations between Turkey and Greece and their determination to maintain it. 

The leaders also confirmed the roadmap agreed at the meeting of Foreign Ministers in Ankara on September 5, which includes the following regarding the contacts between the two countries: meetings of the Deputy Foreign Ministers responsible for political dialogue and the positive agenda in mid-October; the meetings on Confidence Building Measures in November and the Turkey-Greece High Level Cooperation Council to be held in Thessaloniki on December 7.

The two leaders also exchanged views on regional and international issues. In particular, they discussed the natural disasters and climate crises in the Mediterranean region, which have greatly affected both countries recently.

Both agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the field of civil protection as a high priority. Knowing that the issue of immigration is a common challenge for both countries, they agreed to work together to address this issue. The Foreign Ministers were tasked with continuing the work and coordination to advance the agreed roadmap.

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