By Penelope Galliou

The images from the meeting of the two leaders Greece and TurkeyKyriakou Mitsotakis and Tayyip Erdoğan and their colleagues in the sunny hall of the “Turkey House” in New York, around the oval coffee table and the smiling faces of the attendees, outlined the climate between the two delegations, not only in front of the cameras and in the camera lens, but also in the essence of the discussion, which according to a government source “went well” causing optimism on the Greek side but always accompanied by the necessary restraint, as he commented.

A meeting which, the Greek side values ​​positively and estimates that it pushed Greek-Turkish relations one more step forward in relation to the July meeting between Mitsotakis and Erdogan in Vilnius, Lithuania, as it showed the real will of Ankara to continue in the same climate, de-escalation and of calm on both sides of the Aegean. After all, this is what the Greek side wants, according to government sources, that is, “the continuation of the good climate without having rhetorical outbursts and threats”.

The hour-long Greek-Turkish meeting laid out the “road map” for the next steps between the two countries, while the next big appointment was booked, for the December 7when it was agreed to hold the meeting of the Supreme Council of Cooperation between Greece and Turkey, in Thessaloniki.

As for the only critical issue raised by the Greek side and regarding the delimitation of the EEZ and maritime zones, government sources noted that it is “an issue that has not been resolved for many years now and therefore, tight timetables should not be introduced, because they don’t help solve it,” effectively relegating any such discussion to the future. As the prime minister from TIF had already prescribed, noting that The Hague “is still far away”.

At his meeting table Greek prime minister with the Turkish president the Cyprus issue was also overshadowed by Tayyip Erdoğan’s provocative statement from the floor of the UN General Assembly on the recognition of the pseudo-state. In fact, Kyriakos Mitsotakis reportedly repeated that any solution to the Cyprus problem should be included in the framework of the UN resolutions, clarifying that a two-state solution is not being discussed, while Greece’s position on the Cyprus problem is to have a new tripartite and special envoy UN. Positions that are expected to be formulated by the Greek Prime Minister during today’s speech at the United Nations.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated his will for a resolution of the Cyprus problem within the framework of the UN Security Council during the lunch he had with members of the Greek community in the United States and representatives of expatriate organizations, at the residence of the Permanent Representative of Greece to the United Nations, in Nea York. “I want to reiterate here my firm commitment to a Cyprus solution that fully respects the decisions of the United Nations Security Council. As far as Greece is concerned, any solution outside these parameters, any idea or any discussion of a two-state solution it is simply unacceptable. This is something I had the opportunity to communicate again today to President Erdogan,” the prime minister said.

Immediately after the meeting, the Prime Minister in his statements spoke of “a productive discussion with President Erdogan in the presence of our Foreign Ministers and Diplomatic Advisors”, he also emphasized that “we agreed to continue working to deepen the positive climate in Greek-Turkish relations, the which has been established in recent months, and we have clearly defined the level of contacts and meetings for the next period at the level of political dialogue, Confidence Building Measures, but also promoting the positive agenda”.

The prime minister also added that they discussed “the problem of illegal immigration, where I believe that Turkey’s cooperation is necessary in order to reduce migration flows to a minimum” as well as “the issues and major challenges of the climate crisis, as Greece and Turkey are two Mediterranean countries, which this summer too were faced with significant natural disasters, a product of global warming and the climate crisis, which is already here with us”.