Dendias: The absurdity of Turkish provocation is a daily phenomenon – Greece always on the side of Cyprus

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As Mr. Dendias noted, the Turkish provocation “does not deter Greece, which continues to defend the right of our positions and to highlight internationally the absurdity and illegality of Turkish claims”.

“Turkish provocation continues” and “absurdity has become a daily phenomenon” underlined the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias in joint statements after the meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulidis, while he emphasized that “Greece will continue to stand by Cyprus, in effort to avoid new achievements”.

As Mr. Dendias noted, the Turkish provocation “does not deter Greece, which continues to defend the right of our positions and to highlight internationally the absurdity and illegality of Turkish claims”.

“Any setback on the part of Turkey or attempt to create a fait accompli, either in Greece or in Cyprus, should bring about a European reaction”, he stressed.

He noted that within ten days he will have ten ministerial meetings and that he will explain to all his counterparts that the decisions of the European Council regarding Turkish behavior remain in force.

He also made special mention “of the unacceptable and reprehensible fact of the detention and entry ban imposed on the governor of Central Macedonia Apostolos Tzitzikostas in Smyrna by the Turkish authorities”, while he noted that “there was condemnation of this behavior by Turkish officials as well”.

“This act is not consistent with Turkey’s European perspective”, he underlined and reminded that “Mr. Tzizikostas was in Izmir as the president of a European body and not as a Greek regional governor.

Regarding the Cyprus issue, Mr. Dendias noted that “we continue our undivided support for achieving a fair and sustainable solution to the Cyprus issue, based on the resolutions of the UN Security Council, a solution compatible with the European Acquis, a bi-communal, bi-zonal solution federation” and added:

“The resolution of the Cyprus problem, in this context, is our highest priority. It is particularly important to repeat this in view of the sad anniversary of the declaration of the pseudo-state”.

“We are monitoring Turkey’s efforts to upgrade the pseudo-state internationally,” he emphasized. “The relevant decisions of the Security Council on the status of the Varosians are clear. They are not amenable to interpretation, let alone expansive interpretation.”

The developments in the wider region were also discussed. Among the positive developments, the Foreign Minister said, Greece and Cyprus rank the recent agreement between Israel and Lebanon on the demarcation of maritime zones. “It is an example of how to resolve disputes between states on the basis of International Law and the International Law of the Sea. This agreement is of particular interest as it is an agreement between states that do not recognize each other,” he noted.

He also emphasized that it is particularly important that we are facing the resumption of talks between Cyprus and Lebanon on the delimitation of the EEZ.

In the negative developments, he mentioned the signing of the new Turkish-Libyan “memorandum”, contrary to the United Nations roadmap, which, as he reminded, was condemned by the United Nations and the USA and the EU and a large number of countries, among including France and Germany.

Furthermore, Mr. Dendias informed Mr. Kasoulidis about his visit to Niger, the huge problems that exist in Sub-Saharan Africa, which have to do with the food crisis and with security and terrorism.

They also discussed issues of climate change and the Climate Summit, which is being held in Egypt and which the Prime Minister will attend, and the cooperation between Greece and Cyprus in multilateral schemes was examined.

Finally, Mr. Dendias expressed sincere condolences on behalf of the Greek government for the death of the Blessed Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos II.

Kasoulidis: Turkey is in a state of absurdity

“Turkey is in a state of absurdity, regarding its revisionist policy”, emphasized the Foreign Minister of Cyprus.

“We see in Nicosia, an attempt by Turkey to take advantage of the transition period, the last three months of the current government and the next months of the new government,” he noted.

As Mr. Kasoulidis mentioned, “Turkey is throwing all its weight to promote the upgrading of the separatist entity of the Occupied, which only Turkey has recognized.”

On Friday, as he mentioned, the Summit of the Turkish-speaking states takes place, in which an attempt is made to accept the pseudo-state as an observer.

He noted that this “would be a serious upgrade step” and Cyprus and Greece have moved on many levels to prevent it.

“It seems that the effort is to change the statute to allow admission under observer status to entities, not just states and international organizations. It is an attempt by Turkey to overcome the resistance of other Turkish-speaking states to accept the unrecognized state as an observer.”

He also noted that the text was delivered by the pseudo-state to UNFICYP “so that the peacekeeping force is entitled to operate in the occupied area as well, another attempt to recognize them as an entity”.

“There is still the attempt to open offices of the pseudo-state in various European capitals”, he added, as well as two more threats: “the further opening of the closed area of ​​Famagusta and the next station of the floating drilling rig “Abdul Hamid Khan”, which is currently drilling in an area of ​​purely Turkish jurisdiction, but we will see what the next stop will be later.”

He underlined that the actions of Greece and Cyprus are to prevent all of this.

Mr. Kasoulidis noted that he was informed this morning while he was in Athens of the death of the Archbishop of Cyprus and expressed his deepest sadness. “It was about a hierarch who knew the goals he was fighting for, including important reforms within the Church of Cyprus, but also promoting the unity of Orthodoxy under the inspired leadership of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew,” said Mr. Kasoulidis.

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