Greece needs higher relations with Türkiye within the face of inauspicious international challenges, the Greek international minister stated on Thursday.
Speaking to SKAI FM radio, George Gerapetritis stated: “It is important to meet, to discuss, to decompress the crises, to organize our next steps, without necessarily expecting that some lofty agreements will come,” when requested whether or not the working go to to Turkish capital metropolis of Ankara by the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis would happen after Türkiye’s current resolution to reopen Chora Church in Istanbul as a mosque.
“It was a basic assumption from the beginning that our basic positions (of Greece and Türkiye) are not going to change … What we seek through the Greek-Turkish approach is, first of all, to have a period of calmness,” he stated.
According to Gerapetritis, an analogous state of affairs is legitimate with regard to Greece’s plan to determine two marine parks, one within the Ionian Sea and one other within the Aegean Sea, and Türkiye’s response to it.
“We will never compromise about the matters which are essential and established for Greece’s interests. Correspondingly, the Turks also believe that they should stick to their basic positions,” he added.
Gerapetritis stated: “It is preferable to have a quiet neighborhood in an extremely difficult and unstable international environment than to have a finger on the trigger and wait all the time.”
When requested significantly concerning the opposition’s criticism that the federal government is pursuing a coverage of appeasement towards Türkiye, he stated: “I need to emphasize that peace, prosperity, nationwide safety, nationwide self-confidence don’t undergo low cost verbalizations, nor by way of harmful maneuvers within the discipline.
“I think it is our duty for future generations to leave a legacy of peace in our wider region,” he concluded.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
