Greek and Turkish premiers meet in eastern Turkey

Jan 7, 2011, 9:10 GMT

Istanbul - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Greek counterpart George Papandreou were to meet in Erzurum, eastern Turkey on Friday.

Papandreou arrived in the country late Thursday for a visit aimed at improving relations.

The visit follows a recent announment by Greece of a controversial plan to build a 12.5-kilometre fence along part of its border with Turkey in an effort to keep out illegal migrants.

It is expected that the two leaders will discuss the border situation and related issues.

The two Aegean neighbours have historically had tense relations but have undergone a tentative rapprochement since a historic two-day visit by Erdogan to Greece in May. He also paid a courtesy visit to Athens in October for a climate change conference.

Papandreou was invited by Erdogan to address the Third Conference of Turkish Ambassadors, the second leg of which is being held in Erzurum.

The Greek premier would also attend the inauguration of a stadium that will host the 2011 Winter Universiade (World University Games) later this month.

Papandreou was accompanied by Foreign Minister Dimitrios Droutsas, who would meet his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu Friday.

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