Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas was briefed by telephone by Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos on Turkish government vice president Bulent Arinc's visit to the Phanar on Monday and expressed the hope that this visit will be accompanied by more substantive steps by Turkey that will lift obstacles for the Patriarchate's functioning.
On the occasion of the telephone conversation between Droutsas and the Ecumenical Patriarch to exchange best wishes for the new year, the Foreign minister stressed that Greece's steadfast pursuit is the improvement of
Greek-Turkish relations, underlining that a precondition for this is for attitudes undermining efforts to build confidence to disappear on the part of Turkey.ANA
