ATHENS – Setting aside their differences in a dispute over rights to the seas that ratcheted up worries of a military conflict, Greece and Turkey inked a protocol for trade relations and cooperation in other fields, Turkey’s pro-government The Daily Sabah reported.

The word came from the Turkish Trade Ministry after a meeting of the Turkish-Greek Joint Economic Committee (JEC) in Athens led by Deputy Trade Minister Mustafa Tuzcu for the Turkish delegation and Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Kostas Frangogiannis on the Greek side, the first meeting between them since October, 2010.

Improved joint moves against climate change, environmental protection and the resumption of bilateral cooperation in research and technology were also among the matters the parties discussed, the paper said.

They also said they were satisfied with the progress made in the fourth session of the Turkish-Greek Joint Tourism Committee meetings in November, 2021 in Turkey’s Aegean province of Izmir.

While making no progress in trying to join the European Union since talks began in 2005, Turkey is a major trade partner for the bloc and trade with Greece for 2021 was some $5.2 million and showed a 69.2 percent increase over 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the report added.