Aegean Should Be A Sea Of Peace, Demirtas

KALAMATA - Ekrem Demirtas, the chairman of the Executive Board of Izmir Chamber of Commerce (IZTO), said Saturday the Aegean should be a sea of peace, not a sea of conflicts and tensions.
"We want to hear noises of seagulls and fishing boats over the Aegean, not the noises of war planes," Demirtas told during the opening ceremony of the Eighth Economy Summit of Turkish Aegean Coasts & Greek Aegean Islands will begin in Kalamata, Greece.
Demirtas said Turkish-Greek foreign trade climbed from 273 million USD to 2.6 billion USD from 1994 to 2006.
"Turkey's exports to Greece were up 21.3 percent and Greek exports to Turkey were up 20.7 percent in this period," he also said.
Demirtas said Turkish and Greek people lived together for centuries, and will continue to do so for centuries.
"We see being neighbors as a chance, not a fate," he also said.
On the other hand, Georgios Karabatos, the chairman of Messina Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said they should see the Aegean as a sea that units the two countries, not separates them.