Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias referred to the whole range of Greece's foreign policy issues, during his speech today in the Greek Parliament on the impeachment motion filed against the government by the parliamentary opposition.
Making specific reference to Greek-Turkish relations, Dendias noted that "Turkey has changed course", sharpening its aggressive rhetoric."
"[TURKEY, UNFORTUNATELY, HAS CHANGED COURSE. IT IS NOT TURKEY THAT, DESPITE ALL ITS PECULIARITIES, WAS LOOKING TOWARDS THE WEST AND IN A EUROPEAN DIRECTION," DENDIAS SAID, NOTING THAT GREECE, HOWEVER, HAS SUCCEEDED IN "SUSPENDING AGGRESSION."
"Greece has not left any provocation unanswered."
"Greece has not left any provocation unanswered. We made it clear that we want constructive dialogue and a positive agenda. However, on the basis of international law and the international law of the sea."
At the same time, he underlined "Greece's absolute will to defend its sovereignty and sovereign rights."
Stressing that Greece always moves within international law and the law of the sea, Dendias stressed that Turkey does not follow the same path.
"Casus belli. Turkish-Columbian memorandum. Blue Homeland. Excesses. Violations of national airspace. Questioning the sovereignty of islands. Continued occupation of Cyprus. Two-state rhetoric. Intervention in other countries. Iraq, Caucasus, Syria, Libya. Massive violations of human rights. Conversion of monuments of world cultural heritage into mosques," the Greek Foreign Minister said.
"[W]e want dialogue with Turkey, but within the framework of international law. And not a dialogue on paralogs, illegal demands. No dialogue on illegal acquis," he said, stressing that Greece is a self-confident country.
"And to clarify something, Greece is not bothered when our partners and allies in the region talk with Turkey. It is in the interest of all of us that Turkey has contacts with states with which Greece shares the same views. In other words, Turkey should hear the same things from many sides and from many mouths, and it would be a good thing for Turkey to come out of isolation and return to the European path."
"Nobody wants an isolated Turkey."
"Nobody wants an isolated Turkey. An aggressive Turkey. Nobody wants an Islamic neo-Ottoman Turkey."
Furthermore, he referred to broader issues of the country's foreign policy, including the strategy in the Balkan region, the diplomacy of vaccines, but also the agreements on the delimitation of the EEZ with Italy and Egypt, as well as the agreement to refer the issue of the delimitation of the EEZ with Albania to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Furthermore, Dendias underlined the importance of the strategic agreements with the US and France, as well as the trilateral and multilateral cooperation schemes with Cyprus in the region.
Finally, he highlighted as a particularly positive development the country's involvement in the resolution of crises in the region from Libya to Syria, as well as the expansion of Greece's diplomatic ties with African countries.
Source: CNA
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