The foreign minister George Gerapetritis met on Friday the president of SYRIZA-PS, Stefanos Kasselakis, accompanied by the head of foreign policy, Rena Dourou and the diplomatic advisor Vangelis Kalpadakis, in order to be informed about the upcoming High Council of Cooperation between Greece and Turkey.

In this context, Mr. Kasselakis emphasized the firm support of SYRIZA-PS in the dialogue with Turkey on the basis of international law, with the aim of reducing tension, building trust and cooperation in a number of sectors. He reiterated that this dialogue, in order to serve the interests of Greece and peace in the region, must be promoted on the basis of a specific strategy with a beginning, middle and end:

First, to be based on clear red lines in the negotiation: the demilitarization of the islands, the sovereignty of the country and the exclusion of any discussion on joint exploitation or divestment of the right to extend the territorial waters until 12 nm.

Secondly, to have a clear perspective on the delimitation of the continental shelf/EEZ at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Thirdly, to clearly define the terms under which exploratory talks will proceed.

fourth, to utilize our alliances so that Turkey can be pressured and committed to the Greek-Turkish and Euro-Turkish dialogue in the long term. In other words, he should not be able to return to the tension after taking advantage of the upcoming meeting to reap the benefits he seeks.

Stefanos Kasselakis emphasized that the government has been taking advantage of foreign policy issues for years to attack SYRIZA-PS, as a “national exception” for which “patriotism is a foreign word”, with the result that today there is fertile ground in public opinion for positions like those of Mr. Samaras who opposes the dialogue. SYRIZA-PS will not follow her down this slippery road. At the same time, he will oppose any position that moves to the detriment of national interests.

Finally, the President of SYRIZA-PS insisted on the proposal he submitted to all the parties of the democratic arc, whereby:

First, reinstates the proposal of Alexis Tsipras for the formation of a cross-party committee of the Greek Parliament to claim the return of the Parthenon Sculptures.

Secondly, proposes the sending of a joint letter by the Parliamentary Groups of the parties of the democratic arc, to the competent committees of the British Parliament, with the aim of supporting the establishment of a bilateral intergovernmental committee of Greece-United Kingdom on the issue, with the participation of UNESCO.