Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis met with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on the sidelines of the informal meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Ministers in Brussels.
According to diplomatic sources, the meeting took place at the Offices of the Permanent Representation of Greece to the European Council before the informal lunch of the EU Foreign Ministers and lasted an hour.
At the meeting, according to the same sources, EU-Turkey relations were discussed.
Gerapetritis emphasized that Greece supports Turkey’s European perspective, but the European acquis, the sovereignty and sovereign rights of all member states and the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU should be respected.
Greater coordination between Turkey and the EU is required on this.
On the sidelines of the meeting between Gerapetritis and Fidan, Greek-Turkish relations were also discussed, with Gerapetritis raising all the issues that in the past triggered tension on behalf of Turkey, and pointing out the need for a good climate, avoiding tensions and ensuring respect of international law.
They also discussed the upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, where the schedule and next steps of the dialogue will be discussed.
Regarding the Cyprus issue, the Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasized the need to restart the dialogue within the framework of the decisions of the UN Security Council and to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the improvement of Greek-Turkish relations.
