Today the meeting on Confidence Building Measures, which is a crucial step on the road to Greek-Turkish dialogue ahead of the Mitsotakis-Erdogan meeting on May 13.
The fourth meeting for the Confidence Building Measures is being held today in Athens, against the backdrop of Turkey’s latest challenges regarding marine parks.
The two delegations will be led by Ambassador Theoharis Lalakos and Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Aktsapar, respectively. Senior and senior officers of the Armed Forces of the two countries will also participate.
It is recalled that the previous meeting for the MOUs took place on November 13, 2023 in Ankara.
The MOUs together with the “positive agenda” are crucial steps on the way to the Greek-Turkish dialogue, the top stop of which will be the visit of Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Turkey and the meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 13.
On this road, however, Ankara sows new mines, bringing back theory of “gray zones” in the Aegean after the announcement of the creation of a marine park in the Cyclades.
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Dialogue despite the challenges
What scares the Turkish side is the positive outcome regarding our country’s anyway legal right to extend territorial waters to 12 nautical miles. However, Athens at all levels, and through the mouth of the prime minister, emphasizes that the creation of marine parks has a purely environmental objective. But at the same time he makes it clear that he will move on.
However, Mr. Mitsotakis declares firmly engaged in dialogue, but with the timeless “red lines” of the country. It is no coincidence that the prime minister confirmed from Brussels that the appointment with Erdogan in Turkey has been set for May 13. The “attack” of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs had just preceded the marine parks. But also the decision of the extraordinary EU Summit to link Turkey’s European course with the Cyprus issue (which also caused Ankara’s reaction).
And the Turkish president, however, for his part, described Mitsotakis’ visit to Turkey as an important milestone. In other words, Erdogan himself kept a low tone, so as not to be accused of undermining the dialogue. However, Turkey’s return to the revision agenda was already expressed at the level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is a given.
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Maximou defends the policy of Greek-Turkish rapprochement
However, Mr. Mitsotakis from Lesbos, where he toured on Friday, spoke of “tangible, real results of the Greek-Turkish rapprochement”, referring to the agreement on visa express for Turkish tourists on the islands of the Eastern Aegean, but also to the reduction of immigration flows, as a result of the cooperation agreement between the two countries that was sealed during Erdogan’s visit to Athens in December.
The prime minister felt the need to defend the decision to dialogue with Turkey, as a significant part of New Democracy’s right-wing audience views Maximus’ foreign policy with suspicion and the PASOK foreign minister, Giorgos Gerapetritis.
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For the government, however, the biggest gain of continuing the dialogue, even if Turkey insists on its absurd claims, is the calm on the ground in the Aegean. After all, no one would like another summer like that of 2020. Neither the partners in the EU nor the allies in NATO, who of course have their eyes on the Middle East. After all, the crisis in the Middle East and Israel’s response to Iran is at the top of the agenda of the EU Foreign Affairs Council today in Brussels, where Mr Gerapetritis will also participate.
For the rest, Maximos assures that they have no illusions that Turkey’s positions have in fact changed. While the Minister of Defense, Nikos Dendias, stated (parapolitika newspaper) regarding the Greek-Turkish language that “the lull on the field is clearly welcome“, but also that “we must not forget that Turkey is at a critical crossroads for the direction it will choose when President Erdogan retires from active political activity”.
