Greece – Turkey: Meeting of delegations on Confidence Building Measures

In order to maintain the balance between of Athens and Ankara the fourth meeting will be held on Monday (22/04), between Greek and Turkish delegations on Confidence Building Measures (CBM).

The two delegations will be led by Ambassador Theoharis Lalakos and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Burak Aktsapar, respectively. Senior and senior officers of the Armed Forces of the two countries will also participate.

The meeting on the MOUs in Athens is taking place in the wake of the provocative announcements made by Ankara about the marine parks, which essentially brought back the issue of gray zones in the Aegean.

The Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakiscommenting from Brussels on Turkey’s reaction to the marine parks in the Aegean, spoke of a “completely unjustified” attitude and reiterated Athens’ intention to exercise its sovereign rights in the Aegean based on International Law and the Law of the Sea.

It is recalled that the previous meeting on Confidence Building Measures took place on November 13, 2023 in Ankara.

The talks concerned the preparation of MOE activities for the year 2024, from the approved, common, MOE list, drawn up in 2010 (eg organization of sports events, exchange of visits by military delegations, exchange of visits between the Commanders of border units, telephone line between EKAE Larissa – Eski Sehir) .

The meeting was attended by delegations from the Ministries of Defense of the two countries as well as political officials. The resumption of discussions was marked by a difference, as the head of the Greek delegation was for the first time a political figure, Ambassador Theocharis Lalakos, and not a uniformed officer, which demonstrates the attempt to change the page and “demilitarize” the bilateral contacts, giving way to more political and diplomatic fields.

After all, the MOUs are a particularly important link in the chain of bilateral contacts between Athens and Ankara, alongside the positive agenda that continues to be at the center of the diplomatic discussions of the two sides