ISTANBUL — Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias arrived in Istanbul on Wednesday, where he was received by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

In his statements, Dendias expressed his great pleasure at this meeting, while conveying "the warm greetings and respect of the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis."

The foreign minister also congratulated the Patriarch on the completion this year of 30 years of his presence on the Ecumenical Throne and sixty years in the priesthood.

FM Dendias met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul. (Photo by Eurokinissi)

"The initiatives of the Patriarch on particularly sensitive issues, such as, for example, environmental protection issues, for which the Ecumenical Throne has developed a great deal of global activity, are of great interest to us at the foreign ministry," Dendias said.

"So, I will have the opportunity to discuss them with him, in addition to issues concerning Orthodoxy and the Greek Diaspora here in Istanbul, also other issues of common interest," he added.

Dendias is in Turkey for talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara on Thursday. 

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world s Orthodox Christians, centre, and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, right, speak to the media after a meeting at the Greece consulate in Istanbul, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias stands at the entrance after a meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world s Orthodox Christians, at the Greece s consulate in Istanbul, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, centre, walks to visit an old Greek school after a meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world s Orthodox Christians, at the Greece s consulate in Istanbul, Wednesday, April 14, 2021.(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)