ATHENS - Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis has said he was ''happily waiting'' for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Athens.
Caramanlis sent a statement on Thursday to the Anadolu Agency (A.A) office in Athens on Erdogan's three-day official visit that will start late on the same day.
Stressing that the Greek government would be ''very happy'' to entertain the Turkish Prime Minister in Athens, Caramanlis said that they had established a relationship of cooperation on basis of mutual confidence since Erdogan had taken office.
As it was known, Greece supported Turkey's European Union (EU) orientation and wanted to open a new page in bilateral relations, Caramanlis said and noted that within framework of the EU, they hoped to establish friendship, good neighborhood and cooperation relationship with Turkey on basis of European principles and values and make it permanent.
Stating that their desire was to transform the region into a region of peace, stability and security for Turkish and Greek peoples, Caramanlis added that he believed Erdogan's visit would provide for taking another step with this objective.
(MS-AÖ) 06.05.2004