Referring to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias explained Greece's stance on the war in Ukraine and its unequivocal condemnation of the Russian invasion.
During his speech at the Annual General Assembly of the Association of Businesses and Industries of the Peloponnese and Western Greece, on Sunday, June 5, Mr. Referring to Russia's war in Ukraine, he stressed that despite the historical ties that unite Russia and Greece, the invasion of Ukraine "completely overturned the structure of Greek-Russian relations".
"Greece has been fighting for half a century to overturn an invasion of Cyprus by Turkey.[/B] It cannot, therefore, in any way fail to condemn unequivocally an invasion of an independent country," Dendias said.
"It cannot fail to attempt, by whatever means it has, to defend the independence and territorial integrity of a member state of the United Nations. Thus it is in fact defending itself and its own borders. The ideology on the basis of which it exists, develops, lives on," he stressed.
In particular, with regard to Greek-Turkish relations, the Greek Foreign Minister noted that at the beginning of his term of office he was imbued with optimism that "we will be able to find codes of communication with Turkey and resolve the only difference we have with Turkey, which is the continental shelf and the EEZ in the seas surrounding us, on the basis of international law and especially the International Law of the Sea".
"Unfortunately, this has been an absolutely wrong prognosis. We were faced with a constant expansion of arguments, of claims against our country beyond International Law, beyond any logic," he stressed, recalling the issue of the "Turkish-Colombian Memorandum".
"And also the ideology of the blue homeland, the perception that the Greek islands of the Eastern Aegean are on the Turkish continental shelf and have no other rights. At the same time, he referred to the escalation of Turkish rhetoric, with "the new argument that Greek sovereignty over the East Aegean islands is based on the demilitarization agreement, otherwise Greek sovereignty is not absolute but relative."
As Mr. Dendias explained that Greece has responded to all these issues with a series of letters, with the last one being sent a few days ago.
Stressing that the Greek arguments are absolutely adequate and convincing, he pointed out that Greece "has in its arsenal the most modern arguments of international law."
"On the contrary, the Turkish positions do not stand up to any criticism. They are manifestations of a neo-Ottoman revisionism, parts of an ideology of a so-called regional superpower, which attempts to impose its will through the threat of force against its neighbours."
Expressing his wish for a change in Turkey's attitude, which will bring it in line with the principles of the 21st century and European and global values, Mr. Dendias made it clear, however, that he does not maintain great optimism.
In this landscape, he concluded, Greece maintains national unity and unanimity, as well as its ability to promote its positions, based on its own Armed Forces, the strength of its society and its economy.
Source: CNA
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