PM briefs President on Ankara visit
Posted by evdomada on February 3, 2008
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Friday dismissed rumors, mostly aired in the opposition press, of early elections, speaking to reporters after a meeting with President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias.
The government has a “fresh and strong” popular mandate, Karamanlis said, adding that “we have much work ahead of us, and are moving forward with consistency in the materialisation of the reforms”.
The purpose of his meeting with Papoulias was to brief the president on his recent visit to Turkey, Karamanlis explained, adding that Greece steadfastly supports Turkey’s European course, although the neighbouring country is obliged to maneuver within the framework of (EU) principles and reforms it itself has accpted. He also stressed that the issues of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Halki School of Theology are included this framework.
On his meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Karamanlis said that “we reaffirmed our volition for, and are working in the direction of, full normalisation of Greek-Turkish relations”.
“For Greece, the sole criterion is respect of International Law and the international treaties,” Karamanlis stressed.
With respect to the Cyprus issue, Karamanlis said “we are prepared for discussion on finding a just and viable solution”, adding that “the government knows that the effort for normalising Greek-Turkish relations is a long and difficult one”.
Karamanlis was also due to meet afterwards with Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis.
