Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay an official visit to Greece, on 7-8 December, a visit considered of great political and diplomatic significance, as Erdogan is the first Turkish President to visit Greece in 65 years.

During his stay President Erdogan will meet with President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Their discussions will be focused on bilateral relations, emphasizing on the issues of Cyprus Problem, refugee crisis, Euro-Turkish relations and also the violations of Greek airspace in the Aegean.

The official program of Erdogan’s stay in Greece has not been announced yet. Sources told CNA that he is also expected to visit Thrace, but the specific content of this visit is still under bilateral consideration.

Regarding Cyprus issue, Athens is expected to address the matter of the exhaustive preparation of an International Summit on Cyprus Issue, as it was agreed during the recent official visit of President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, in Greece. Furthermore, Athens will express its firm willingness to support Turkey’s EU integration process –as it consistently does during all the past years–on the condition that Turkey respects the principles of international law and meets its obligations towards Cyprus and all the other EU member-states.

According to CNA sources, expert units of both parts have already prepared the texts of the bilateral agreements which are expected to be signed during Erdogan’s stay in Greece. The agreements relate to the creation of a coastal line between Thessaloniki and Smyrna, construction of express railway infrastructure for the linkage of Thessaloniki and Constantinople, and also the construction of a cross-border bridge between the customs of Kipoi and Ipsala.