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Greek-Turkish relations: New talks in Athens

Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών- κτιριο
ΧΑΛΚΙΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ ΝΙΚΟΣ / INTIME NEWS

In particular, the 7th round of Greek-Turkish talks of the Positive Agenda will take place in Athens on Monday, between the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kostas Fragogiannis, and the Turkish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Mehmet Kemal Bozay

Despite the differences between Greek-Turkish relations, with Ankara insisting on resolving many issues and not just the one that Athens recognizes and concerns the delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf, the next steps of the Greek-Turkish dialogue are now on track.

In particular, the 7th round of Greek-Turkish talks of the Positive Agenda will take place in Athens on Monday, between the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kostas Fragogiannis, and the Turkish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Mehmet Kemal Bozay.

On Tuesday, December 3, in the context of the 3rd meeting of the Political Dialogue process between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Greece and Turkey, talks will take place between the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Alexandra Papadopoulou, and the Turkish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The meetings are held 24 days after the meeting between Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Athens.
Μeanwhile, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated a few days ago that there has been no substantial progress in the discussion on the Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf, however, both sides are focusing on maintaining the good climate and calm waters between the two countries.

Ankara may not have taken a single step back from its maximalist positions but also from what it considers to be a “set of problems” with Greece, such as those concerning airspace, FIR, the Thracian minority, territorial waters, demilitarization and questioning the sovereignty of geographical formations – something that was recently reiterated by Hakan Fidan, Yasar Guler and Tayyip Erdogan, but the message from Athens is clear.

As the Foreign Minister clarified, “we will never discuss issues related to the country’s sovereignty” adding that “we will not give up any of our rights. We insist on international law. If Turkey wants to proceed with talks, there is only one issue on the table, the delimitation of the EEZ.”

The foreign ministry is trying to – guided by International Law and International Conventions – to build trust in the issues that unite the two countries so that it can then solve the biggest issues while maintaining friendly neighborly relations, as well as keeping open channels of communication so that differences do not produce crises.

The next steps

The outcome of the meeting between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Tayyip Erdogan in the context of the 6th High-Level Cooperation Council in Ankara will be important. It is not excluded that a new meeting for its preparation between George Gerapetritis and Hakan Fidan will take place in mid-December.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, December 11, George Gerapetritis will brief the leaders of the political parties on foreign policy issues and on Thursday, December 12, at 10:00, the National Council for Foreign Policy will meet, under Foreign Minister Gerapetritis.