Türkiye and Greece strengthen ties, targeting $10B bilateral trade

Türkiye and Greece's bilateral trade volume hit $5.8 billion in 2023 but the two countries target $10 billion, officials have said.

"We are neighbours, friends and allies with Greece. We need to use the time well, we need to close the trade deficit," Turkish Deputy Trade Minister Mustafa Tuzcu said on Friday, at the Türkiye-Greece Business Forum in Istanbul, organised by Türkiye's Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK).

Tuzcu emphasised the significance of the 15 agreements signed a few months ago across diverse fields, and expressed confidence in achieving the targeted $10 billion bilateral trade volume.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Erdogan signed the declaration of friendship and good neighbourliness in Athens on December 7.

Collaboration in various areas

As part of the Forum, the Türkiye-Greece Joint Economic Commission (JEC) 6th Term Meeting was also held and the JEC Protocol was signed. In the JEC meeting, views were exchanged on energy, agriculture, transportation, industry, agriculture, customs, tourism and social security.

It was emphasised that a more secure and sustainable electricity transmission infrastructure will be established between the two countries with a new interconnection line established.

In transportation and customs, the second bridge to be built at the Kipi-Ipsala Border Gate will carry cooperation in freight and passenger transportation forward.

In industry, it was agreed to develop cooperation between small and medium enterprises of the two countries. Within the scope of standardisation, it was pointed out that the Turkish Standards Institute is ready to cooperate with its Greek counterparts.

It was also stated that the Turkish side is ready to share information and experience on organised industrial zones, and it was decided to organise the "10th Turkish Greek Tourism Forum" in the future to develop cooperation in tourism.

The Greek side said visa facilitation for Turkish tourists who will visit the Greek islands in the Aegean will start March 1.

Bridging differences 'through honest dialogue'

During the forum, the Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Kostas Fragogiannis said cooperation can be strengthened with joint projects in investments, trade and the tourism and building sectors.

“The deepening of the positive climate in Greek-Turkish relations and the further development of our bilateral cooperation contribute to the prosperity of the whole region,” Fragogiannis said.

About the ongoing thaw in the relations in general and particularly Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Athens in December, he said, “At this moment, our bilateral relations run on a roadmap at three levels: political dialogue, the Positive Agenda, and Confidence Building Measures.”

On the prospects of the bilateral relations, Fragogiannis said, “What is important to stress is that Greece and Turkey are two neighboring countries that ought to live in peace, thus they ought to keep trying to bridge differences through honest dialogue.”

Numerous major global and regional challenges including climate change and conflicts in the region make rapprochement even more relevant and needed, he said.