NATO Members Greece, Türkiye Pledge to ‘Reset’ Ties and Bypass Longstanding Disputes

In this photo provided by the Greek Prime Minister's Office, Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, left, shakes hands with Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting at the NATO Summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. (Greek Prime Minister's Office via AP)
In this photo provided by the Greek Prime Minister's Office, Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, left, shakes hands with Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting at the NATO Summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. (Greek Prime Minister's Office via AP)
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NATO Members Greece, Türkiye Pledge to ‘Reset’ Ties and Bypass Longstanding Disputes

In this photo provided by the Greek Prime Minister's Office, Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, left, shakes hands with Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting at the NATO Summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. (Greek Prime Minister's Office via AP)
In this photo provided by the Greek Prime Minister's Office, Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, left, shakes hands with Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting at the NATO Summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. (Greek Prime Minister's Office via AP)

Greece is ready to “reset” relations with neighbor Türkiye in an effort to bypass decades-old disputes between the two NATO members, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Wednesday.

Mitsotakis held an hourlong meeting Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, and told reporters they had agreed to continue high-level contacts.

“Our problems have not been magically resolved,” Mitsotakis said. “But today’s meeting confirmed my intention and that of President Erdogan to reset Greek-Turkish relations.”

Cabinet ministers from the two sides are due to meet after the summer in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, Mitsotakis said.

Wednesday's talks were held a day after Türkiye dropped its objections to Sweden’s membership in NATO and signaled further willingness to lower tension with Western nations, including Greece.

Türkiye and Greece remain at odds over maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean, a dispute that affects illegal migration into the European Union, mineral rights, and the projection of military power.

Both NATO members are seeking to upgrade their air forces with assistance from the United States: Ankara wants new and upgraded F-16 fighter jets, while Athens is keen to join the F-35 program.

The defense ministers of Greece and Türkiye, Nikos Dendias and Yasar Guler, held a separate meeting in Vilnius on Wednesday.



Israel Killed 30 Iranian Security Chiefs and 11 Nuclear Scientists, Israeli Official Says

A view shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a building on Monday, after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A view shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a building on Monday, after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Israel Killed 30 Iranian Security Chiefs and 11 Nuclear Scientists, Israeli Official Says

A view shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a building on Monday, after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A view shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a building on Monday, after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Israel killed more than 30 senior security officials and 11 senior nuclear scientists to deliver a major blow to Iran's nuclear ambitions, a senior Israeli military official said on Friday in summarizing Israel's 12-day air war with Iran.

In the United States, an independent expert said a review of commercial satellite imagery showed only a small number of the approximately 30 Iranian missiles that penetrated Israel's air defenses managed to hit any militarily significant targets.

"Iran has yet to produce missiles that demonstrate great accuracy," Decker Eveleth, an associate research analyst at the CNA Corporation specializing in satellite imagery, told Reuters.

In Israel, the senior military official said Israel's June 13 opening strike on Iran severely damaged its aerial defenses and destabilized its ability to respond in the critical early hours of the conflict.

Israel's air force struck over 900 targets and the military deeply damaged Iran's missile production during the war that ended with a US-brokered ceasefire, the official said.

"The Iranian nuclear project suffered a major blow: The regime's ability to enrich uranium to 90% was neutralized for a prolonged period. Its current ability to produce a nuclear weapon core has been neutralized," the official said.

Iran, which denies trying to build nuclear weapons, retaliated against the strikes with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites and cities. Iran said it forced the end of the war by penetrating Israeli defenses.

Iranian authorities said 627 people were killed in Iran, where the extent of the damage could not be independently confirmed because of tight restrictions on the media. Israeli authorities said 28 people were killed in Israel.

Eveleth, the independent US expert, said Iran's missile forces were not accurate enough to destroy small military targets like US-made F-35 jet fighters in their shelters.

"Because of this the only targets they can hit with regularity are large cities or industrial targets like the refinery at Haifa," he told Reuters.

Iranian missile salvos, which were limited by Israeli airstrikes in Iran, did not have the density to achieve high rates of destruction, he wrote on X.

"At the current level of performance, there is effectively nothing stopping Israel from conducting the same operation in the future with similar results," he wrote.

In a statement on Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had directed the military to draft plans to safeguard air superiority over Iran, prevent nuclear development and missile production, and address Iran's support for militant operations against Israel.

Israel's military Chief of Staff Lieutenant General, Eyal Zamir, said on Friday the outcome in Iran could help advance Israeli objectives against the Iranian-backed Palestinian Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.

Zamir told troops in Gaza an Israeli ground operation, known as "Gideon's Chariots," would in the near future achieve its goal of greater control of the Palestinian enclave and present options to Israel's government for further action.