Turkey, Greece stress need for dialogue

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The president of Turkey and the prime minister of Greece agreed Tuesday on the need to keep "channels of dialogue" open between their countries, which have come to the brink of war three times since the early 1970s and remain divided over an array of issues.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the conciliatory comments while Tsipras was in Ankara. His two-day visit got off to a shaky start when Turkey put up bounties for the capture of eight servicemen who fled to Greece following a failed 2016 coup.

But unlike Erdogan's 2017 trip to Athens — when both sides publicly aired grievances —the two leaders on Tuesday focused on dialogue and building economic ties.