Sovereignty issues will never enter the discussion table with Turkey and we will resolutely defend our sovereign rights, Giorgos Gerapetritis emphasized this morning, in an interview.
In particular, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Gerapetritisspeaking on his television, referred to his meeting yesterday with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidansaid that it took place in a good atmosphere and all the issues that needed to be raised were raised, while the main agenda was the Euro-Turkish and Greek-Turkish issues as well as the Cyprus issue.
For Greek-Turkish, the Foreign Minister said that during the meeting with Mr. Fidan, he raised the issues that have recently arisen, among them the issue of Casso, the cutting edge issues, as well as the preparation of the meeting Mitsotakis – Erdogan in New York in September. Regarding the Cyprus issue, he said that the restart of talks is underway, he estimated that there is an understanding that the parties should sit at the dialogue table, and he underlined that the Cypriot side has a creative attitude, something that the Greek side also expects from Turkey.
Mr Gerapetritis noted that our country has a consistent and strict attitude towards Turkey and added that the choice made by the government was to proceed with the normalization of Greek-Turkish relations and if it is found that it is possible for the two sides to enter into more complex issues which will ensure long-term calm, to proceed.
“The line is drawn by the Prime Minister and collectively by the Council of Ministers and the KYSEA. The position of the prime minister is clear that Greece is proceeding with a discussion with Turkey with prudence and professionalism. We are ready for all eventualities. We are not ethereal, nor naive. We build step by step. We make sure that the first step is to go to calm waters. If the conditions are ripe we will enter into the more complex issues, which will ensure us a longer peace. The Greek government is completely in favor of this position,” said Mr. Gerapetritis.
He stated that he was satisfied with how things have gone so far in Greek-Turkish relations, he referred to what happened in the past with immigration, the violations, and the aggressive rhetoric, noting that today immigration is not a major problem, while Greece’s airspace is not violated.
“The choice we made when I took over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by order of the Prime Minister is to proceed with a normalization of Greek-Turkish relations and to gradually see how it is possible to enter into more complex issues, which will ensure us a for a long time calm in our wider region. Taking stock 13 months after starting these talks and taking over the Foreign Office, I am pleased with how things have gone. I just want to remember what the situation was in previous years.
I want us to remember immigration. In ’15, ’16 with 1.5 million irregular immigrants crossing the Aegean. I want us to remember hundreds of violations of Greek airspace, which were carried out with the risk of a hot episode and of course war risks. And of course let’s remember what was happening in relation to political offensive rhetoric. Right now, as we speak, immigration is not a major problem. It is checked. There is a good coordination”, said Mr Gerapetritis.
Referring to the Kasos incident he said that we had a research vessel conducting research in the Greek EEZ, and in the past this would have led to overcrowding. He pointed out that today there is a distortion at the level of real facts and said that the real facts are firstly, that there was no crisis, there was no tension, and secondly, the investigation envisaged by the research ship was completed.
100% of the investigation was done, and it is a European project, said Mr. Gerapetritis, adding that no crisis arose, there was no recognition of a claim by the Turkish side and there was the expected investigation result. In relation to what was heard about concessions and retreats, Mr. Gerapetritis characterized them as “non-existent and false” and spoke of political exploitation of things by a section of the press. He made it emphatically clear that sovereignty issues are never going to enter the discussion with Turkey and our country always defends its sovereign rights.
Mr Gerapetritis specifically said:
“I am very disturbed by the fact that there is a distortion at the level of real facts. Everyone can have a personal opinion on whether the discussion with Turkey is good or bad in the context of maintaining a relatively mild climate. But we cannot distort the facts. Here what are the facts in the Casso issue? The facts are: first, there was no crisis and there was no tension that would cause this crisis.
Indeed, as Greek warships move, so do Turkish ones. But in no case was there any danger of a crisis. And secondly and more importantly, the investigation is complete. The research, which was provided by the research ship. The research vessel did 100% of the research that was planned based on its schedule. She completed the survey. He came back. It is a very important European project, which is being carried out and for which we have the following two facts.
First, no crisis occurred. There was, secondly, no recognition of any right or claim on the Turkish side, and thirdly and most importantly, the beneficial effect. The investigation was absolutely complete. Now, all that is said about the concessions, the withdrawals, the return of the ship without investigation, you will, with all due respect, allow me to say that they are non-existent and false. And unfortunately there is an attempt, which is made so that there is a political exploitation of things”.
The “Blue Homeland” is illegal, Gerapetritis says
Referring to the “Blue Homeland” he called it an “illegal claim by Turkey under international law” and said it was self-evident that Turkey would not back down from this position overnight.
“The “Blue Homeland” is an illegal claim under international law, which is put forward by Turkey. It is a key position that has been developed over the last several years on behalf of the neighbor and has to do with its perception of the delimitation of maritime zones. It goes without saying that Turkey will not retreat from this basic position overnight. We all understand that. We are not ethereal, nor naive to believe that because we sat at the table, Turkey’s basic underlying positions will cease to exist. The opposite.
We know these positions exist. This does not negate the fact that we should, on the one hand, continue to move in relation to the positives, which we can do and, on the other hand, not back down on anything in relation to Turkey’s claims. We cannot go from 0 to 100 in one year. We can proceed step by step in order to highlight these illegal claims and when the time comes to be able to demarcate on the basis of international law alone,” said specifically Mr. Gerapetritis.
According to iefimerida, referring to SYRIZA’s statement about his meeting with Mr. Fidan, Mr. Gerapetritis said that the opposition official’s statement did not refer to anything that was said, and stressed that SYRIZA was not saying what it would do. himself. He spoke of a “contradiction in the political speech of SYRIZA” since – as he said – “on the one hand it is in favor of dialogue with Turkey and on the other hand it says not to discuss. Let them tell us where concessions were made.”
He underlined that SYRIZA has no policy on national issues and added that the government is in politics with a national responsibility towards the next generations, and must work for peace and not for war.
“Let him tell us what SYRIZA would do if he was in power” he added and mentioned that today we have minimal violations and a much smaller problem in immigration. Finally, he reminded that in 2015, 1.5 million immigrants passed through Greece.
Finally, referring to North Macedonia, he said that the country’s political and state leadership systematically violates the core of the Prespa agreement, which is an international text that overrides any provision of law. He said that the neighboring country is in violation of the agreement, and the government is informing its EU partners, while the necessary actions are being taken in all fora.
He also said that we are ready for all eventualities and noted that there are safeguards under international law to compel North Macedonia to comply. He made it clear that Greece is in favor of the integration of the Western Balkans into the EU but we will not tolerate selective compliance with international law. “The same applies to Albania,” he concluded.
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