ANKARA, Turkey — Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Wednesday became the first Greek premier to pay an official visit to Turkey in 49 years, reflecting warmer ties between two countries that have come close to war several times.
Karamanlis and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, spoke of their determination to work toward resolving long-standing disputes — including the divided island of Cyprus as well as airspace and sea boundaries in the Aegean Sea — but there was no concrete agreement on how to proceed.
“It is time to turn a new page,” Karamanlis told reporters.
The two countries have nearly gone to war three times since 1974, but relations have thawed considerably over the past decade.
The last Greek prime minister to visit Turkey was Karamanlis’s uncle, Constantine Karamanlis, in 1959.
