Letter from Mr Ismail Cem, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Turkey, to Mr George Papandreou, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Greece, 24 May 1999

Ankara, 24 May 1999

Dear George,

I want to share with you my views on ameliorating our bilateral relations. As you also expressed a similar interest to me, I hope these ideas will help us to begin exploration of avenues for possibly moving our relations forward.

Our initial step should be to address the problem of what is perceived in Turkey as links that exist in Greece with terrorist organizations and their systematic encouragement. This is a matter of crucial importance for us and recent events have made it imperative that this issue be handled in an explicit manner and at the bilateral level between our two countries.

I, therefore, suggest that Turkey and Greece conclude an agreement to combat terrorism. Resolution of this issue would permit us to approach our known differences with greater confidence. The substance of this agreement may be inspired by accords we have already signed with some of our other neighbors, but is should also be specific to the nature of the problem as it affects our relations. We have some further ideas in this respect which we are ready to share with you.

I further suggest that parallel to the signing and implementation of such an agreement, we could also initiate a plan for reconciliation. For this purpose, we could benefit from the ideas I had forwarded to the EU in November 1997, emphasizing resort to all the peaceful means referred to in the UN Charter as well as those I placed on the table back in February-March 1998 that enjoyed positive echoes from international circles as being constructive and realistic. Certainly, we would be open to new ideas, too.

If you think we can proceed on these two categories of action, we might instruct our high official to come together and have them meet and begin to discuss these matters and privacy.

Waiting for your response, I present my warm regards and best wishes.

Ismail Cem

Letter from Mr George Papandreou, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Greece, to Mr Ismail Cem, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Turkey, 25 June 1999

Athens, 25 June 1999

Dear Ismail,

Allow me once again to congratulate you on your reappointment as Foreign Minister of the Republic of Turkey. I am looking forward to continuing our friendly and constructive cooperation.

In this regard I would like to thank you for your letter dated 24 May 1999 and I wish to offer the following thoughts:

First of all I would like to welcome the expression of willingness from your side to improve our bilateral relations. This is also the sincere wish of the Greek side. Greece is willing to address the issues in our relations within the framework of International Law and Treaties. I strongly believe that we must adopt a realistic approach which will allow outstanding issues to be dealt with in sequence creating thus both a strengthening sense of confidence in our relations and a perspective of further steps along the way.

In parallel, we could also envisage resuming dialogue on issues, may of which we have attempted to deal with in the past. Cooperation in several fields of mutual interest such as culture, tourism, environment, crime, economic cooperation and ecological problems should be amongst the topics of our talks. allow me to elaborate on these suggestions:

-- Tourism should become an area of cooperation. Closer cooperation between Greece and Turkey will enhance our competitiveness and strengthen the attraction of our two countries as tourist destinations. Important exchanges already exist between the local authorities, tourist organizations and chamber of commerce of the Greek Islands of the Aegean and those on the western coast of Turkey. It is important we strengthen these contacts and examine into specific issues that will facilitate their cooperation therefore accrue multiple benefits for both our countries.

-- One of the most important resources our two countries possess is the beauty of our natural environments. Our two countries continue to remain comparatively unspoiled by the developments of modern economies. This however may not be so in a few years. The preservation and/or restoration of our natural surroundings, particularly when we speak of the Mediterranean, our coasts, our seas, our rivers and lakes must be a priority for both of us. Let us therefore explore the possibilities of cooperation on ecological issues that will not only preserve our tourist industry’s prospects but also guarantee a better quality of life to our citizens.

-- Both Greece and Turkey have rich cultural traditions. Building a multicultural Europe means that we need to enhance our cultural identities and understand each other’s specificity. Our cooperation in this file d could involve such projects as the restoration of religious and cultural monuments. Mosques, churches, and cultural sites could be identified for this purpose in both our countries. Extremely important are of course live exchanges of artists, intellectuals and academics, but also groups that have formed non-governmental organizations. These exchanges could expand to journalists, women, youth, professionals as well as institutions such as those of tertiary education and many others. In this context complicated but important issues such as Balkan history books in our educational systems might be explored with other neighboring countries.

-- Dealing with organized crime, drug trafficking, illegal migration and terrorism are a priority for Greece and Turkey. Therefore cooperation in this field is a necessity. Such cooperation must obviously be compatible with our obligations as an EU member country. It must also respect our commitments arising from a number of international treaties and agreements signed by us. Furthermore, I hope you will agree it is essential that any form of cooperation on terrorism should also take into account the basic principles safeguarding human rights adopted by the council of Europe, to which both our countries participate. In any case nothing prevents out two countries from exploring all avenues for cooperation in order to combat terrorism within the framework of relevant international agreements of which we are both part. I also suggest that we could examine our cooperation within the context of the recent SECI agreement to prevent and combat trans-border crime. In this context Greece also has important concerns with regard to drug trafficking and illegal migration. Many attempts have been made by drug dealers or illegal migrant traffickers to cross our common border. This has become a major issue of concern for our citizens and our cooperation here will be truly welcomed. Cooperation on all the above issues would also be of great interest to many nations in Europe as their cities are target destinations of these illegal activities.

-- Trade between our countries has greatly increased over the past years. Let us therefore see how we can enhance this momentum to our mutual benefit. Among other things we could examine the possibility of concluding bilateral economic agreements for instance an agreement on preventing double taxation. Our business communities, who have shown leadership in Greek-Turkish relations, could also contribute positively to our discussions on economic cooperation.

-- South East European Cooperation and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation – where we have already achieved a good record of successful collaboration – provide us with another field for cooperation. The recent crisis in Kosovo is a good example on how our two countries can coordinate their policies within a regional context. While the immediate crisis is over much is yet to be done for reconciliation, reconstruction and stability in Kosovo, Yugoslavia and the region as a whole. The Stability Pact offers us a number of opportunities to coordinate and develop our joint efforts. I have always believed that close cooperation between Greece and Turkey in multilateral organizations will contribute to give greater impetus to wider stability in the region. Our cooperation in these areas should serve as an example for others. Keeping this in mind we could explore other areas of cooperation within SEEC and BSEC. The South East European Cooperation, SECI and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, where we have already achieved a good record of collaboration, can become important areas of successful work between us.

The possibility of concluding bilateral, or even multilateral agreements, in the above mentioned fields could also be envisaged in the light of the progress of our cooperation.

In this context we could meet when the opportunity arises in order to have a sincere and constructive exchange of views. I have always been of the view that personal contacts between us can in many ways be productive. They particularly can be useful if we are to define common approaches, ways and means to address outstanding bilateral issues and enhance mutual confidence.

Hoping to hear from you soon, I send you my sincere wishes for success in your post.

George A. Papandreou