EU: With the Copenhagen summit on European Union enlargement less than four weeks away, Turkey's unofficial leader Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday kicked off his lightning tour of Europe's capitals by meeting Greek Prime Minister Mr Costas Simitis in Athens.
Though he flies on to Madrid, London and Dublin later this week, none of his visits are likely to be as important as yesterday's with Mr Simitis.
Relations between Turkey and Greece have improved considerably since 1996, when the two countries narrowly avoided war over an uninhabited island off Turkey's coast. But Athens and Ankara must be seen to be taking steps to resolve continuing disagreements over Cyprus and the EU's Rapid Reaction Force if Turkey is to have a hope of joining Europe in the foreseeable future.
On the evidence of yesterday's meeting, the determination to work together is there. Mr Simitis told reporters that the meeting had laid "a very solid basis of understanding" for further cooperation. And while he stopped short of pushing for a starting date for Turkey's accession proceedings, he stated that he backed Turkish accession "in principle".
Interviewed yesterday evening on CNN-Turk, Greek Foreign Minister Mr Yorgos Papandreos was more forthcoming. "Today's talks represent a historical turning-point in Greco-Turkish relations, comparable to the rapprochement of France and Germany after 1945."
Mr Erdogan struck an equally optimistic note, saying that "as two friendly nations", they should be able "to advance towards a solution" to their problems. There is no doubt that the most pressing issue facing the two countries is Cyprus.
At loggerheads since 1974, Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders have been asked by the UN to take steps to resolve their differences before the Copenhagen summit on December 12th. While the Greek Cypriots agreed yesterday to use the UN document as the basis for negotiations, the Turkish Cypriots are hampered by the fact their leader, Mr Rauf Denktash, is recovering from heart surgery in New York.
Some of Mr Erdogan's comments on the issue raised eyebrows in Brussels. EU spokesman Mr Jonathan Faull criticised his suggestion that Cyprus and Turkey should join the EU at the same time, saying "once a country meets the criteria, . . . its accession cannot be made conditional on the accession of any other country."
It is still not clear whether Mr Denktash will be fit enough to sit down to the gruelling negotiations which are expected to last into the back rooms of Copenhagen. But the second factor hampering Turkey's ability to bargain - its lack of a functioning government - was solved last night when Turkey's new Prime Minister, Mr Abdullah Gul, revealed his cabinet at a press conference in Ankara. Commentators describe the new ministers as from the moderate end of the Muslim conservative Justice and Development Party's spectrum.
Mr Erdogan's remarks only confirm the widespread impression that Turkey's new leaders will be more open to compromise on Cyprus than the hawkish previous government. Though his party insists it is moderate, members know that if they step out of line, they could suffer the same fate as their predecessor, the Islamist Welfare Party, pushed out of power by the army in 1997.