Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias met with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις, Turkish: İstanbul).
On Thursday, Dendias, accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy, Costas Frangogiannis, will travel to Ankara and meet with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
Bilateral relations, as well as regional and international issues will be discussed during the talks.
After meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch, Dendias made the following statement:
"It is a great joy and emotion today because I met His Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
"I would like to convey to him the warm greetings and respect of the Prime Minister of Greece, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has already conveyed his condolences, as well as mine.
"I would also like to wish and congratulate him on completing this year thirty years of his presence on the Ecumenical Throne and - if I am not mistaken - sixty years of priesthood.
"May God support and bless his effort in the leadership of Orthodoxy.
"Also of great interest to us at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are the Patriarch's initiatives on particularly sensitive issues, such as, for example, environmental protection issues, for which the Ecumenical Throne has developed a great deal of global activity.
"I will, therefore, have the opportunity to discuss them with him, as of course issues concerning Orthodoxy, the Greek Diaspora here in Constantinople and other issues of common interest.
"It is for me, as I always say, a great joy and a great honor to meet the Ecumenical Patriarch once again.
"Thank you very much, Your Holiness, for giving me this opportunity."
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