The primary message from Wednesday’s meeting in Constantinople between Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and visiting Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias was Athens’ standing support towards the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Rather than the customary venue for such a meeting, at the Phanar-district Ecumenical Patriarchate, the talks were hosted at the Sismanoglio Mansion, where Greece’s general consulate in the Bosporus metropolis is housed today. The latter was chosen due to pandemic related concerns.
Dendias travelled to Ankara today, accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Kostas Fragogiannis, where the Greek delegation was received by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Contacts followed with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoglu and Turkish foreign ministry officials.
In statements ahead of the talks, Greece’s top diplomat appeared guarded over the prospects of a significant break-through, while adding, nevertheless, that the two neighboring states must be able to communicate within a reasonable context and the framework of international law. He said, “…Because if we are to speak in the context of randomness, we do not need to speak.”
