Regional rivals have been at odds over a host of maritime issues in the Mediterranean and migration ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that he would meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week in New York. The NATO members and regional rivals have been at odds over a host of maritime issues in the Mediterranean and migration. Mitsotakis said on Friday that Turkey was an important partner in tackling any new migration challenge to Europe and needed support. Speaking at a news conference before departing for New York, Erdogan said Turkey, which hosts some 4 million refugees — most of whom are Syrians — was “suffering the biggest burden and the heaviest downsides” of migration, adding that Turkey would take the necessary steps if its counterparts did not. The Turkey’s president also said his country was ready for talks with Armenia but added Yerevan needed to take steps toward opening a controversial transport link through its territory. Armenia and Turkey never established diplomatic relations and their shared border has been closed since the 1990s. The ties have deteriorated due to Turkey’s support for its regional ally Azerbaijan, which fought with Armenia last year for control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. But earlier this month, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Yerevan was prepared to hold discussions on repairing relations with Ankara. “If he (Pashinyan) would like to meet with Tayyip Erdogan, then certain steps should be taken,” Erdogan said. He was referring to the creation of a transit corridor that would have to go through Armenia to connect Azerbaijan to its Nakchivan enclave that borders Turkey and Iran. “We are not closed to talks (with Armenia), we will hold the talks,” Erdogan said. “I hope that not a negative but a positive approach will prevail there,” he said. “God willing, the problem between Azerbaijan and Armenia will be overcome with the opening of the corridors.”