Ferry transportation between Izmir and ThessalonikiTwin cities have a ferry

The first ferry trip between Izmir and Thessaloniki.
119 passengers, 2 trucks, 5 cars, and 2 motorcycles were transported on the ferry, which has the banner "#İzmir-#Thessaloniki Friendship Line" in Turkish and Greek.
The timing of the commissioning of the ferry connecting the two Aegean coastal cities is interesting in that it coincides with a period of heightened political tension between the two countries.
Turkey and Greece, both NATO allies, have been increasingly at odds over a string of issues, including the status of the Aegean islands.
Turkey accuses Greece for militarizing its islands and building American bases in violation of international treaties.
At the 4th Turkey-Greece High Level Cooperation Council held in Izmir in 2016, Prime Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu and Prime Minister of Greece at the time, Alexis Tsipras, announced to the public that the said line would be opened and the work had started.
However, the development of said line was hampered by the course of Ankara-Athens relations and the coronavirus pandemic.
The first trip between Thessaloniki and Izmir took 13 hours.
Ticket prices were determined as 81 euros and 95 euros.
Since the two cities are culturally and structurally similar, the similarity makes the ferry transport even more interesting.