Istanbul, 13/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, Greek Foreign Minister Georges Papandreou and his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem, began negotiations on the Aegean. These negotiations have been added to the original scope of the Organisation of Islamic Conferences (see below). Procedures will be long but Georges Papandreou confirmed on this occasion that they should not be afraid of dialogue and that discussions would continue within the framework set up at the European Council of Helsinki.
In the Helsinki Summit conclusions of 10-11 December 1999, Heads of State and EU government leaders asserted that the accession process included 13 countries in a single framework (therefore Turkey too) and requested that the candidate countries immediately work towards resolving possible border disputes, as well as issues of a similar nature. The conclusions outlined that from then till the end of 2004 at the latest, the European Council would update the situation regarding remaining disputes, particularly those that could possibly impact on the accession process in order to promote their resolution by way of the International Court of Justice.
Observers have pointed to the fact that dialogue between Greece and Turkey could also have a positive impact on the EU/NATO Agreement (currently blocked by Greece) on EU use of Alliance facilities during peacekeeping operations organised by the EU.