The Turkish president Tayyip Erdoan will host the Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for talks on Wednesday, likely focusing on'migration and long-standing maritime disputes as NATO allies try to warm up ties.

Last week, 15 migrants died in a shipwreck near the Greek island Chios after their boat collided into a Greek Coastguard vessel. The boat sank off the Turkish coast of the Aegean sea.

Greek officials announced that Mitsotakis would be accompanied on his visit by the ministers in charge of foreign affairs, finance and development, as well as migration.

The agenda is likely to include the Middle East, Iran, Ukraine, migration, trade, and organized crime.

Lana Zochiou, spokeswoman for the Greek Foreign Ministry, said on Tuesday that the goal was to "assess the progress of bilateral co-operation" and "to maintain communication channels open in order to defuse potential crises".

Turkey is a transit nation for migrants who are trying to reach the "European Union" via Greece. Ankara claims that the EU did not fulfill its commitments made under a migration agreement signed in 2016 and Athens demands more from Turkey to stop irregular border crossings.

The neighbours have not reconciled their differences over maritime borders in the?Aegean. This area is believed to be rich in energy and has implications for airspace, military activity, and other factors.

Ankara announced last month that it had?issued a maritime notification urging Greece?to coordinate research activities in areas of the?Aegean which Turkey considers to be part of its continental shelves.

Greece's Foreign Minister had stated that Athens intended to "extend its territorial water further, possibly in the Aegean."

In 1995, the Turkish parliament declared that if Greece unilaterally extended its territorial waters in the Aegean beyond?six nautical miles, it would be a cause of war. Athens said this was a violation of?international maritime laws. Greece claims it only wants to talk about the demarcation maritime zones. (Reporting from Ece Toksabay and Angeliki Koutantou in Ankara; Writing by Darry Butler; Editing Jonathan Spicer).

(source: Reuters)