ATHENS – Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced on Monday in Brussels that Ankara will support Greece’s candidacy for a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the years 2025-2026. Athens, in turn, will support Türkiye’s candidacy for the General Secretariat of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The two counterparts met on the sidelines of the International Donors’ Conference in support of the earthquake-stricken people in Türkiye and Syria. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Dendias stated that “we just finished a very constructive meeting with my friend, Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. I had the opportunity to thank Mevlut because he was the first minister who called me after the [train] tragedy in Tempi to express his condolences, the condolences of President Erdogan, and also offer help if needed.”

Dendias continued, “I also had the opportunity to thank him for Türkiye’s decision to allow a prisoner from a Turkish prison to return to Greece to attend his son’s funeral after the Tempi tragedy. The third ‘thank you’ I want to express to Mevlut concerns his very important announcement that Türkiye will support and vote for Greece in its campaign for the position of non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the years 2025-2026. I also had the opportunity to inform my colleague that Greece will support Türkiye’s candidacy for the General Secretariat of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). It was a great pleasure to see you again, dear Mevlut, and I hope to meet with you soon.”