Erdoğan and Mitsotakis meet: 'We will resolve issues through dialogue, this is a process'

Highlights from Erdoğan's statements are as follows:

"We just held a narrow-scope, extremely productive, sincere, and constructive meeting with the Prime Minister. During our talks, we comprehensively reviewed the issues on our bilateral agenda.

We are working toward the goal of increasing our bilateral trade, which was 6 billion dollars last year, to 10 billion dollars.

Our countries, which are located in earthquake zones, have always fulfilled the law of neighborliness in the face of natural disasters and have been among the first countries to rush to each other's aid.

The memorandum of understanding in the field of Disaster and Emergency Management has solidified our legal basis in these matters.

"IT IS IMPORTANT TO REACH A SOLUTION"

I shared our expectations from our neighbor and NATO ally Greece with the Prime Minister once again today.

We expect the positive atmosphere in our relations to contribute to the rights of the Turkish minority and our kin in Greece. It is important that the Cyprus issue be brought to a fair and lasting solution.

In our meetings, we exchanged views on regional developments, especially the genocide taking place in Gaza. The Israeli administration not only turns a deaf ear to calls for a ceasefire but also does not refrain from challenging even its own supporters.

We salute once again from here all the people who fill the squares every week with the call 'Let us not be partners in this oppression' from East to West. It has been seen that the decision taken by the UN General Assembly regarding the full membership of Palestine is the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with territorial integrity, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

As Turkey, we will resolutely continue our contacts aimed at forcing Israel into a ceasefire and increasing the recognition of the Palestinian state.

We expect our neighbor Greece to also support the efforts being made to stop the massacre.

I had previously shared my belief that there is no problem between us and Greece that cannot be solved. This is a process. It must be advanced meticulously to yield more results.

Despite our differences of opinion, we are focusing on a positive agenda by keeping our dialogue channels open."

"HAMAS IS NOT A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION"

President Erdoğan reacted to Mitsotakis's words that "Hamas is a terrorist organization."

Erdoğan said, "I do not see Hamas as a terrorist organization; on the contrary, I see Hamas as people who are struggling to protect their own lands and their own people.

Hamas is a resistance organization that has been protecting its lands since 1947, after its lands were occupied."

MITSOTAKIS: WE WANT TO CONTINUE THE POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS

In his statement, Mitsotakis said, "We want to continue these positive developments. Both peoples have begun to benefit from the fruits of a very important initiative that I am committed to.

They can visit 10 Aegean islands. It is a process carried out after a short check at the border gate. It is an important opportunity for the two peoples to come together without experiencing the agony of bureaucracy," he said.

Stating that cooperation with Turkey is increasing day by day, Mitsotakis said, "The efforts we are making to stop human traffickers have begun to yield very important results. Turkey has made a very positive contribution in this regard. We are also working for Turkey to benefit from European funds in light of European decisions," he stated.