JOURNALIST: Mr. Fragogiannis, could you please tell us a few words about the progress made on the Positive Agenda issues and how the Greek and Turkish people will see this progress in their daily lives?
K. FRAGOGIANNIS: First of all, good morning to you and your viewers. It was a pleasure to travel to Ankara and meet with Burak Akçapar, the new Deputy Foreign Minister, who succeeded Sedat Önal, with whom we had met the previous three times. We took an overview of the items in the Positive Agenda. There has been a lot of progress on issues related to the economy, trade, energy, tourism, transport, transportation, culture, and sports. We have mapped out a number of new activities related to the environment, civil protection, and natural disasters. I believe that Greeks and Turks will notice in their daily lives how this good understanding we share on simple day-to-day issues relates to their own lives: whether it is about the business community of both countries, which will be able to invest in each other as well as in third countries, or whether it is about strengthening the economy and trade, or simply about tourist visits and ferry connections.
JOURNALIST: Is the Positive Agenda a process that will be completed once we achieve our objectives or is it a process that is renewed as we get closer to the objectives, opening new windows of cooperation?
K. FRAGOGIANNIS: You put it very well. The Positive Agenda is not a static process in which we set ten goals, achieve them, and then it’s over. The Positive Agenda between Greece and Türkiye is – and I hope it will remain – a dynamic partnership in which accomplished items are removed from the agenda and new ones are added. You know, when there’s a good mood, a good climate, a good atmosphere – as the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mr. Çavuşoğlu, said in a meeting he had recently with our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dendias – when there is a good atmosphere, and you achieve 3 or 4 of the 10 objectives set, this gives you the desire to set more, to do more, to try harder and to achieve more results. So, it’s a dynamic agenda that evolves over time.
JOURNALIST: The Thessaloniki-Izmir ferry connection operated for a relatively short period of time before being suspended. Will this service be resumed in the spring?
K. FRAGOGIANNIS: We are very happy that the Izmir-Thessaloniki line has been launched. It was launched a bit late though. It is a business decision. Greece and Türkiye did what they had to do: they laid the framework for cooperation. Not only have the governments strengthened this framework, but the Port Authorities in Thessaloniki and Izmir have also helped in this regard.
JOURNALIST: Tourism is an essential economic sector for both countries. In the past, there was some facilitation when it came to granting visas to Turkish tourists visiting the Greek islands. Will we see similar plans this year as well?
K. FRAGOGIANNIS: What we have discussed with our partners in Ankara, under the Positive Agenda, was ways to facilitate access so that customs processes and passport control may be completed more quickly and effectively. We’d love to welcome more Turkish tourists to our islands this summer.