After the turmoil caused in the last two months in the “calm waters” of Greek-Turkish relations by Ankara’s stance, the thread of the meetings is picking up again Hellas and Turkey, with the last round before Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ trip to the neighboring country on May 13, starting today, April 22, from Athens.
Delegations of the Ministries of Defense will meet for the second time after the Greece-Turkey rapprochement with the aim of Confidence Building Measures (MOU), based on the list the two countries had jointly agreed upon in 2010.
The new meeting takes place against the background of the recent Turkish provocations and the diplomatic brawl between the foreign ministries, with Ankara, using as a pretext the creation of the marine parks in the Ionian and the Cyclades, returning to the rhetoric of tension in an attempt to “gray” once again areas of the Aegean.
Athens responded in a strict style, accusing Turkey of politicizing a purely environmental issue and the Greek Minister of Defense, Nikos Dendias, of speaking of absurdity, and underlining that as long as non-existent accusations remain on the table, such as the Casus BelliGreece must be prepared for all eventualities.
However, with the atmosphere not reminiscent of the climate that preceded the previous meeting on the MOUs, on November 13, the tones before the restart of the meetings were lowered by the president of Turkey himself. Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the upcoming meeting with the Greek prime minister as an important stage in Greek-Turkish relations, asserting that his goal is for the relations between Turkey and Greece to be in a much better position after the four-four with Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
In any case, Athens characterizes Turkey’s basic positions as deeply problematic for the relations between the two countries, regarding the critical issue of the delimitation of maritime zones in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.
With Ankara insisting on its revisionist agenda, the primary goal is to keep the channels of communication open so that any tensions do not turn into crises on the ground. At the same time, Greek diplomacy makes it clear that it invests in dialogue, does not put on the table issues related to national sovereignty and sovereign rights, and reminds that the only issue is the resolution of the one and only dispute with Turkey, which is the definition of the EEZ and continental shelf on the basis of International Law and the Law of the Sea.
Who will participate in the delegations?
The delegations of the defense ministries of Greece and Turkey will be led by the ambassador Theocharis Lalakos and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Burak Akshapar, respectively. Senior and senior officers of the Armed Forces of the two countries will also participate.
It is noted that in the context of the MOUs and what was discussed between the delegations last November in Ankara, the new meeting is taking place in the wake of the exchange of visits of Commanders of border military units that took place in Edrianopolis and Feres Evros in the previous days.
The Greek-Turkish dialogue will continue on Friday, April 26, in Istanbul, with the discussions on the Positive Agenda between the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kostas Fragogiannis and Burak Aktsapar, with the Greek side stating – in general – that it is satisfied with the implementation of the agreed, during the Supreme Cooperation Council last December.
In addition, the Mitsotakis-Erdogan meeting may have been preceded by a preparatory meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Gerapetritis, and his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan. According to information, the existing chapters of the Greek-Turkish dialogue, as well as possible new ones, will be among other things on the agenda.
