Mitsotakis, Erdogan conclude high-profile meeting in Istanbul, amid shadow of war in Ukraine

A high-profile meeting in Istanbul on Sunday between visiting Greek Prime Minister and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hosted an informal lunch for the former, lasted for roughly one hour at the landmark Vahdettin Mansion.

The meeting was arranged to coincide with Mitsotakis’ private visit to Istanbul in order to attend a festal church service at the Christian Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate, on the occasion of the ecclesiastical feast day of the Sunday of Orthodoxy.

Mitsotakis and his government have nevertheless cautioned against expecting too much from the meeting, as Athens considers that Turkey’s unilateral claims and often belligerent behavior will not be overcome with such a one-off contact.

Conversely, the Greek side has repeatedly cited several points on a so-called “positive agenda”, in terms of bilateral ties, which can lead to an improvement in relations.

Before the meeting, Greek government sources said the Russian invasion of Ukraine had dramatically altered the security situation in Europe, resulting in the explicit condemnation, by the international community, of any form of expansionism and revisionism – a not-so-subtle nod towards Turkey.

Before the meeting, Mitsotakis was among the congregants who attended a divine liturgy officiated by Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, at the patriarchal cathedral of St. George, with the Patriarchate’s Phanar-district compound.