Greek Foreign Affairs Minister George Gerapetritis categorically denied discussing issues of Greece’s national sovereignty during his meeting with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Athens on November 8 in statements in the Greek Parliament on Monday.
He also expressed the view that because Greece is at the peak of its diplomatic power at this point, it is a good opportunity to raise difficult issues. The Greek government will ensure the Greek-Turkish dialogue continues to prevent tension and crises in its neighbourhood.
Gerapetritis was responding to a question by Plefsi Eleftherias Deputy Alexandros Kazamias, who cautioned the government against being carried away and discussing everything “in a package solution.”
The minister confirmed Kazamias’ observation that “there is truly a deviation on the issue related to the delimitation of the continental shelf, and it is attributed to one reason alone: that Greece believes that the only issue which can be raised before an international court and be discussed is the delimitation of the continental shelf and the EEZ (exclusive economic zone), while Türkiye’s stance is that interlinked issues related to sovereignty should also be discussed.”
He added, “We deny explicitly and categorically that the Greek-Turkish dialogue included or will include any other discussion beyond the delimitation of the continental shelf and EEZ.” Furthermore, “The reason we believe at this point that there is truly a good opportunity for the Greek state to enter discussion on difficult issues that have not been resolved in 50 years, and relate to the delimitation of the continental shelf and the EEZ, is exactly because Greece is at the height of its diplomatic powers.”
Gerapetritis also dismissed allegations about secret diplomacy, joint exploitation in the Aegean, and concessions to Türkiye, underlining that “There has been no joint exploitation, no concession whatsoever. In terms of secret diplomacy, I do not believe that there has been in Greece, after the restoration of democracy, a case of the foreign minister informing Parliament continuously with every detail about the relations developing with Türkiye, as is happening in the current case.”
The minister defended continuing the talks with Türkiye despite the disagreement on delimitation, providing examples of diplomatic successes because of the negotiations, such as the restart of talks on the Cyprus issue, the drop in migration flows, the reduction of Greek airspace violations by Türkiye, and the rise in Turkish visitors to the Greek islands (100,000), based on a short-term visa program.
“We do not believe that just because we disagree on the major issue, we should not discuss the rest and not try to find the framework that will allow us to discuss our major issue,” Gerapetritis concluded.
