SYRIZA-PS positively evaluates the convening of the 5th Supreme Cooperation Council, today in Athens as, as it emphasizes in its relevant announcement, it firmly supports the promotion of the Greek-Turkish dialogue with the primary purpose of reducing tension, building trust and cooperation in a number of sectors.

“We are not going to follow the policy of Mr. Mitsotakis for the period 2021-2023, of patriotism and instrumentalization of the Greek-Turkish people for political benefits.” points out however.

“First, we expect an update on the provisions of the Declaration on Friendship and Good Neighborly Relations, especially regarding:

Paragraph OP1(a) for the inclusion of the exploratory talks in the context of the Political Dialogue, which implies de facto upgrading them to political negotiations.

Paragraph OP2 which provides for a commitment “to refrain from any statement, initiative or action that could discredit or endanger the Declaration or endanger the peace.” It should be clear that nothing in this paragraph affects the sovereignty of Greece and the right of defense of the Greek islands and does not lead to divestment of its rights as provided by the law of the sea and international law in general.

Secondly, just one day before his visit to Greece, the Turkish President stated that the priority for his country is the purchase of F16 from the USA and Eurofighter from the United Kingdom and Germany, while in the previous period he consistently referred to the importance of upgrading the Customs Union EU-Turkey. It clearly confirms the position of SYRIZA-PS that, among other things, for Turkey the ultimate goal of the normalization of relations with Greece is its utilization in the context of US-Turkish and Euro-Turkish relations for specific benefits.

In this context, as we have repeatedly emphasized by submitting a relevant proposal, it is necessary to draw up a structured strategy so that in the next period, negative and positive conditions will be placed on the progress of Euro-Turkish relations and on the sale of F16s to Turkey by the USA. Conditions that will have the ultimate goal exclusively of delimiting the continental shelf/EEZ at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Thirdly, today the Turkish President referred to a “Turkish minority” in front of Mr. Mitsotakis, while in the 2017 press conference after his meeting with Alexis Tsipras he explicitly referred to a “Muslim minority”. The least Mr. Mitsotakis could have done would have been to invoke this 2017 statement, showing the Turkish side that the Greek state has continuity and memory. But he did not give such an answer. He forgot, of course, his pre-election drumbeats that he would raise the issue of Thrace to the Turkish President in high tones. While he confirmed that for him and his faction the issue of Thrace will always be the subject of petty political interests and not of national politics,” he says characteristically.