Greece & Turkey Commit to Friendly Relations: The Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good-Neighbourliness

The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis signed a joint declaration with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the latter’s visit to Athens on Thursday.

Read the full document of the “Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good-Neighbourliness”:

The President of the Republic of Türkiye, H.E Mr Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, H.E. Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, representing their respective Governments (jointly referred as “the Parties”), having chaired the 5th meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council between the Republic of Türkiye and the Hellenic Republic on December 7th, 2023, in Athens, in a spirit of goodwill and cooperation,

PP1. Recognizing the renewed will for cooperation between the Governments of the two countries;

PP2. Underlining that the bonds between the two neighbouring nations harbour the potential to markedly increase the region’s prosperity and dynamism;

PP3. Emphasizing the need to continue jointly working for the benefit of both societies in an atmosphere of friendship and mutual trust;

PP4. Seeking to intensify the bilateral relations through existing institutional mechanisms;

PP5. Underscoring that in order to enhance the good neighbourly relations, both Parties will cultivate a spirit of solidarity in the face of current and future challenges without any prejudice to each other’s legal positions;

PP6. Underlining that to promote the said positive atmosphere and agenda, both Parties will encourage exchange of visits at every level with a result-oriented approach;

PP7. Recalling that among the fundamental objectives of the Charter of the United Nations and the universally acknowledged principles of international law are the maintenance of international peace and friendly co-operation among states;

PP8. Determined to foster friendly relations, mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and understanding, and to resolve any dispute among them by peaceful means and in accordance with international law;

PP9. Underscoring the importance of effective communication channels and mechanisms at every level for the successful management of their bilateral relations, with particular emphasis on avoiding conflictual situations and potential escalation;

PP10. Emphasizing that both Parties will approach their relations with the objective of increasing economic cooperation and deepening of people-to-people ties, thus contributing to the prosperity and peaceful coexistence of their two neighbouring peoples, further stressing that to this end, in view of the significant progress made in fostering the positive agenda on economic and commercial affairs through the Joint Action Plan, the two sides will explore additional items of cooperation;

Have agreed on the following:

OP1. The Parties agree to engage in continuing constructive and meaningful consultations based on the following pillars:

(a) Political Dialogue:

-On issues of mutual interest,

-Exploratory/Consultative talks;

(b) Positive Agenda, within the scope of the enhanced Joint Action Plan, involving measures of common interest in the fields of business-economy, tourism, transportation, energy, innovation, science and technology, agriculture, environmental protection, social security and health, youth, education and sports or any other field to be jointly decided, with the aim of attaining significant and concrete deliverables, streamlining and continually updating the agenda in a structured fashion with new items;

(c) Confidence Building Measures, involving measures in the military field, which would contribute to the elimination of unwarranted sources of tension and the risks thereof;

OP2. The Parties are committed to refrain from any statement, initiative or act likely to undermine or discredit the letter and spirit of this Declaration or endanger the maintenance of peace and stability in their region.

OP3. The Parties will endeavour to resolve any dispute arising between them in an amicable manner through direct consultations between them or through other means of mutual choice as provided for in the United Nations Charter.

This Declaration does not constitute an international agreement binding upon the Parties under international law. No provision of this Declaration shall be interpreted as creating legal rights or obligations for the Parties.

Done in Athens, on the 7^th of December 2023, in two copies, each in the Greek, Turkish and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of divergence of interpretation, the English text shall prevail.