Blinken welcomes ‘time out’ on Greece-Turkey tension

By DEREK GATOPOULOS
Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged NATO allies Greece and Turkey to calm rhetoric as both countries head to national elections. Blinken made the comments Tuesday in Athens in an effort to bolster unity in the trans-Atlantic alliance as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nears its anniversary. Blinken met with officials in the Greek capital after a stop in Turkey where he also visited regions hardest hit by devastating recent earthquakes. Greek and Turkish officials said they are willing to take a “time out” from longstanding disputes over sea boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean in the aftermath of the earthquakes that have killed around 45,000 people in Turkey and Syria.