With the signing of several bilateral cooperation agreements between Greece and Turkey, Athens January 20 called the visit by its Foreign Minister George Papandreou to Ankara "a positive event."

Speaking at a press briefing, Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said that the positive climate now existing between the two neighboring countries should be proved and that the recent European Union (EU) summit in Helsinki was a milestone for Greece as far as the course for Greek-Turkish rapprochement was concerned.

Papandreou arrived in Ankara Wednesday afternoon for a three-day official visit, the first by a Greek foreign minister since 1962.

In Ankara, Papandreou signed with his Turkish counterpart, Ismail Cem, four agreements for bilateral cooperation on tourism, investment, security and the environment.

Before the signing of the agreements, he also met with Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, who invited his Greek counterpart, Costas Simitis, to officially visit Turkey.

The Greek minister is also expected to meet with Turkish President Suleyman Demirel later Thursday.

For decades, Greece and Turkey, both NATO members, have been at odds over their disputes in the territorial waters, air space limits and the delimitation of the continental shelf in the Aegean Sea, and the Cyprus problem, but the two countries have since late June taken some steps to improve their strained relations.

On the occasion of Papandreou's visit to Turkey, the Hellenic Rail Organization (OSE) will launch Friday a pilot intercity train link from the northern Greek city of Alexandroupolis to the Turkish city of Istanbul.

A joint conference of Greek and Turkish journalists and media executives will take place in Athens in early February, and Cem will also address the conference and sign with Papandreou the rest of the 10 bilateral cooperation agreements.