ANKARA – The coming visit to Athens by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be the first by a Turkish Head of State since Celal Bayar came in 1952 and will set the stage for talks with Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras as tension is growing between the countries.Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Hakan Cavusoglu said no date has been set yet although Greek media earlier said it could be Dec. 11-12.“Our President will be the first Turkish president visiting Greece in 65 years. I think this visit will yield significant results,” he added, TRT World said, without giving any details about what is expected to be accomplished.Despite the scheduled visit, Erdogan has stepped up the invasion of Greek airspace by Turkish fighter jets and has drawn fiery criticism from Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, leader of the pro-austerity, marginal, jingoistic Independent Greeks (ANEL) who are junior partners in a wobbly coalition led by Tsipras’ Radical Left SYRIZA.Pointing to the recent high-level visits to Greece from Turkey, Cavusoglu said Erdogan’s visit would step up communications and as Tsipras chided German Chancellor Angela Merkel previously for calling for an end to Turkey’s hopes of joining the European Union, a more than decade-long quest so far.Turkey also let human traffickers flood Greek islands with thousands of refugees and migrants, most from Asia and the Middle East, who are stuck there with the suspension of a European Union swap program and as Europe has closed its borders to them.Cavusoglu also said a High-Level Cooperation Council meeting would take place in Thessaloniki in February and would include talk about ferry services to transport passengers and goods from Turkey’s western Izmir province to Thessaloniki.The second one is a high-speed train service project between Istanbul and Thessaloniki, and the third is a bridge between Greece’s Kipoi and Turkey’s Ipsala border crossings.Read more here.RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism reportPhoto Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Lfdder License: CC-BY-SASource: thenationalherald.com