Following their second round of talks in September, high officials of the Foreign Ministries of Greece and Turkey met for α third round in Ankara (21 and 22 October 1999) and Athens (25 and 26 October 1999) to discuss issues related to tourism the environment, economic and commercial relations, culture, cooperation in the multilateral regional field and combating organized crime, illegal immigration, drug trafficking and terrorism.

  The talks were held in α friendly and business-like atmosphere. The two delegations, with the participation of representatives of the competent authorities from their respective country, elaborated the items of the agreed agendas. These included updating the contractual framework of Greek-Turkish relations as and where appropriate, as well as defining specific areas where cooperation could be initiated in the short or longer term.

  The delegations decided to establish working groups related to the above fields with the aim of further elaboration of the draft texts already exchanged and relevant matters. These working groups, headed by high officials of the respective Foreign Ministries at ambassadorial level and composed of representatives of competent authorities, will convene in November 1999.

  The two sides agreed that the conclusions of the working groups will be assessed during the fourth round of talks, in principle due to take place in December, with the aim of presenting the results achieved to their Foreign Ministries.