Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend the UN General Assembly in New York today | Photo: Anadolu Ajansı

Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will travel today to New York to attend the annual session of the UN General Assembly.

Erdogan is expected to address the Assembly on the Black Sea Grain Corridor among other matters. He is also scheduled to meet with other leaders, including Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to advance a recent thaw in Turkish-Greek relations relating to territorial disputes in the Aegean Sea.

Given Erdogan’s failure to persuade Russia to return to the Black Sea Grain deal, he is likely seeking other diplomatic wins in New York. In this regard, the meeting with Mitsotakis is the most promising. The two NATO members have exchanged sharp rhetoric in recent years. However, following Greek humanitarian support to Turkey following February’s devastating earthquakes and Erdogan’s re-election in May, they held a bilateral meeting at the NATO Summit in Lithuania on July 12. These meetings represent the best opportunity for rapprochement in three years.

Expect both leaders to continue building rapport in the medium term. Should this go well, a return to exploratory talks for resolving their maritime disputes—abandoned by Turkey in October 2020—is more likely. Until then, expect the fundamental disagreements between Athens and Ankara in the Aegean to continue.