Panagiotopoulos: The good climate in Greek-Turkish relations should be demonstrated in practice – 2024-07-24 15:30:13

Turkey seems to be creating a scene of tension again just outside the Greek territorial waters in Kasos, and Nikos Panagiotopoulos spoke about this issue.

“We’d like to think things have improved quite a bit since then. The climate has calmed down a lot since then. Of course, we still have some fragmentary rhetorical outbursts, some statements by officials and some actions in the field. I think this is a Turkish practice of one of the type once on the nail, once on the shoe. We have some actions that could be perceived as actions that raise the intensity a bit. We have some statements from Turkish officials in the same vein.

But I believe that none of this can create problems in the best climate. But we need and I want to emphasize this right now and in practice a series of proofs that we mean what we say the attempt to find the common ground and let’s not succeed in the end. The disagreements between the two sides on key issues are well known. The government and the prime minister in every tone have demarcated national lines. From here on, it is good, as we said, to always talk, but it is also good to demonstrate in practice that we mean the good climate and do not undermine it on the one hand, while favoring it or trying to raise it on the other. It’s a delicate balance,” the minister stressed, speaking on ERT’s First Program.

And then, he added: “And as I said, a lot comes out in the field (referring to the case of Kasso), a lot is proven in the field. The field shows the truth. We have problems in the field, just as we have problems in immigration management, but also in these exercises in Turkey. In any case, however, we communicate our limits and from then on we insist on trying to come to an agreement. If we don’t make it, we’ll see. But the attempt must be there. As of 2020, two fleets had been deployed in the South Aegean. It’s not the same now. Do not compare these two things, because I think that the two – so to speak – “mobilizations” have nothing to do with each other. In 2020 we had around 70 ships in the waters southeast of Rhodes. It’s not the same now.

Apparently Turkey sent some warships around Kasos Island. Obviously, the Greek authorities are monitoring this mobilization with their own means, but let’s not compare disparate things.”