Greece: 'We have reached a sufficient level of trust with Turkey'
Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis stated that "we have reached a sufficient level of trust with Turkey" following a series of recent meetings aimed at fostering diplomatic warming between the two nations, which have had long standing disputes.
Duvar English
Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis has stated that they have reached a sufficient level of trust with Turkey step by step through open communication channels in an interview with the Greek daily Kathimerini.
According to reporting from the Anadolu Agency, the Greek Foreign Minister spoke quite positively about the rapprochement process between Greece and Turkey over the past 15 months.
Gerapetritis noted that the leaders of both countries had instructed their foreign ministers to evaluate the current conditions for conducting comprehensive discussions on the delimitation of the continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
He added that all these issues would be addressed during Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's planned visit to Athens in November.
The Greek Minister emphasized that even if an agreement on the framework for the delimitation of maritime zones would not be reached, they will still strive to maintain the current positive atmosphere in bilateral relations.
Gerapetritis highlighted the need for an active policy aimed at solutions in the consultative talks between the two countries, stating, "We are not aiming for a 65th round of consultative talks. In 21 years, after 64 rounds of talks, we have not reached a negotiation level with Turkey, neither in terms of content nor process. As a result, we usually ended up in a worse position by the end of a round than at the beginning. Historically, it has been proven that inaction in foreign policy's complex issues generally causes harm. Only action produces beneficial outcomes."
In the past months, both Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid visits to each other in an attempt to reboot diplomatic relations.