Greece and Turkey hold historic meeting to overcome troubled past
LONG-TIME foes Greece and Turkey held a historic joint cabinet meeting in a top-level effort to overcome old grudges in the midst of Greece's debt crisis.
"I am optimistic that the groundbreaking and courageous step we are taking today can bring results, exactly because the will exists," Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said after attending a news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was on his first trip to Greece since 2004.
The two Nato allies came to the brink of war three times between 1974 and 1996 over the ethnically divided island of Cyprus and territorial rights in the Aegean Sea. Military tensions continue to dog their diplomatic relationship.