ISTANBUL - Sertab Erener, who won the Eurovision song contest last year for Turkey, and Greek pop star Sakis Rouvas gave a concert in Istanbul late on Wednesday with the aim of promoting peace between the two neighbouring nations.

The concert was held under the auspices of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis.

In an interview prior to the concert, Erener said, I met Sakis Rouvas during this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul. We decided to give a joint concert in order to further develop friendly relations between our countries. We are pleased that our dream came true.

She added that the concert would be repeated at Athens' Acropol in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Rouvas said, our goal is to bring a solution to conflicts through music.

People waved Turkish and Greek flags at the concert in Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet district.

Notes: Of course the concert in Athens never happened...