Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has invited Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the primus inter pares of the world’s Christian Orthodox primates, to attend an official dinner in honor of visiting Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which was scheduled on Monday evening, a move seen as elevating the bilateral contacts.
Media outlets reported that the Turkish presidency extended an invitation to the Ecumenical Patriarch’s Fanar-district office on Sunday night.
Informed sources said Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is expected to arrive in Ankara shortly after 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
Top Ministers and aides by at the dinner
The dinner will be attended by top ministers and close aides of both Erdogan and Mitsotakis as well as the heads of the secret services of the two countries, Ibrahim Kalın and Themistocles Demiris.
Sources close to the Greek prime minister’s office emphasized the two sides want to keep all channels of communication open to facilitate progress in bilateral relations.
