Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, ending a historic four-day visit to Turkey on January 21, said his country is opposed to secession in principle and stressed that Athens does not want a divided Turkey.

The Greek minister said that while his country wants the Kurds in Turkey to be treated better, it is strongly against the division of Turkey and the setting up of a Kurdish state, Turkish Daily News reported on Saturday.

Ankara has long been under criticism for its treatment of the Kurdish people in the country.

Separatist Kurds led by the Kurdish Workers' Party has been fighting for an independent Kurdish state in the southeast of Turkey, which has claimed 37,000 lives in more than a decade, mostly Kurds.

Papandreou said that if secession was accepted, this would create chaos in the Balkans where there are so many minorities. "Every minority group would push for autonomy and independence, it would end up in chaos and discord," he warned.

He declared, "We are never in favor of terrorism, never in favor of the Kurdish Workers' Party, and never talk about secession."

Ankara had long accused Athens of sheltering and aiding Kurdish separatists fighting against Turkey.

Papandreou said his visit to Turkey, the first official visit bya Greek foreign minister since 1962, was a "breakthrough in relations" between the two Aegean neighbors but added that there was still no breakthrough in the disputes such as the issues of Cyprus and Aegean Sea.

Turkey sent troops to Cyprus in 1974 to suppress a short-lived coup seeking union with Athens. It supports a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in northern Cyprus, which has not been recognized by other countries.

Turkey and Greece have also been locked in territorial disputes in the Aegean, which have led the two neighboring countries to the brink of war three times in the past 25 years.

Their relations, however, have improved steadily since both sides rushed aid to each other following devastating earthquakes last year in the two countries and Greece lifted its objection to Turkey's European Union candidacy at the EU Helsinki summit last December.

Greece has also agreed to possible international arbitration of some territorial disputes if the two sides fail to solve them by the year 2004.

The Greek minister said he felt that the continuation of current peace process and the confidence-building measures would help settle these disputes.

During his visit, the two sides signed four cooperation agreements concerning tourism, investment, environment and combatting crime as moves to build confidence between them.

Referring to Turkey's EU membership bid, Papandreou said that Greece would be capable of helping Turkey with its accession. "Our problems at that time were similar to those of Turkey today. As the nearest country to Turkey, we can allow it to benefit from our experience."

Papandreou had paid an unofficial visit to Turkey last October.