Greece stated on Friday it was ready to come to an agreement with Turkey on delimiting their respective economic zones at sea, urging its neighbor to lower tensions that harm the latter's ties with the EU.

The two countries are in disagreement over a number of issues, including commercial rights in the Aegean sea, territorial waters, and the split land of Cyprus.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was visiting Athens, "My door is always open, but this dialogue presupposes a reduction in unnecessary tensions."

Related News

Greek PM doubts possibility of armed conflict with Turkey

Turkey accuses Greece of manipulating meetings in relation to NATO

Mitsotakis also declared that "Greece has signed agreements defining exclusive economic zones with neighboring countries like Italy and Egypt. There is no reason why we cannot do it with Turkey, provided that the tensions be toned down, and realize that such an approach would be eventually beneficial to both countries."

Ankara has said that it is open to discussing maritime borders with all countries as long as its rights are respected.

A long history of disputes

Turkey and Greece resumed talks, early this year, to find solutions for their longstanding maritime disputes, thereby ending a 5-year hiatus in the talks after months-long tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey and Greece, both NATO members, have disputes over the extent of their continental shelves, energy resources in the region, their airspaces, and authority over some islands in the Aegean Sea, as both countries were not able to achieve any worthwhile progress over 60 rounds of talks from 2002 until 2016.