Greek-Turkish, American elections and the election of the President of the Republic were some of the topics discussed in the interview of Minister of State Makis Voridis, on SKAI.

Starting from the Greek-Turkish issues and the objections of the opposition regarding complacency, the Minister of State firstly referred to the latest statements of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Gerapetritis, who “for the umpteenth time said that the issue is one”. M. Voridis asked that the same question addressed to him be asked of those who open such a discussion. As he argued, subsequently, after each time the two delegations meet, a communique is issued on “the content of the dialogue, what has been discussed, what are the issues they discussed”.

Consequently, according to Mr. Voridis, the right question to ask those who express their anxiety is: “Why are you worried, my good sir?” Is there anything that justifies your concern? Is there a shift of the Greek government to the classical positions?” And, the recipients of these questions are everyone who raises a relevant question in the public debate, he added.

To the question of whether it is the right timing for the Greek-Turkish dialogue, the Minister of State answered as follows: “I am not particularly optimistic in the sense that I do not see any substantial movement of Turkey’s positions. Turkey says what it says. And we mean what we say. So when everyone keeps their position, I don’t see much room for substantial progress.”

On the other hand, however, “dialogue in itself is good to exist. It has brought positive results,” he noted and cited the restriction of migration flows from Turkey and the fact that violations have stopped. “And when there are still issues, there is a level of communication through which they are resolved to a certain extent. This is all a positive thing. The soft agenda may not be the big core, but it leaves something,” he said, giving examples from the economic field, such as the tourist visa or the commercial relations of the two states.

“I do not say, ‘suddenly how good the Turks have become and how much they have deviated from their positions.’ It is a country with its own specific characteristics and which is very far from the European perception of things in many issues. Look at the position of Greece and Turkey on the subject, Israel and terrorism”, he pointed out.

Asked about the interest of the American factor, the Minister of State remarked that “the United States of America has an open … conflict with Turkey at the level of international relations. The Greek-Turkish relations are a part of a very critical and immediate agenda. What Turkey is doing with Hamas obviously concerns the US, as it concerns the entire civilized world. What Turkey is doing in relation to Iran and the wider region is a central issue – and obviously concerns NATO and a number of EU institutions as to what is Turkey’s position on major issues.”

While for the upcoming American elections, he estimated that “they will play a role, the election of Trump may create changes in American foreign policy, but not in issues like these. That is, we may see differentiation in Ukraine, I don’t think we will see differentiation – let’s not see the reverse, aggravation and tension – in the issues of the Middle East and support for Israel”.

In matters of pure internal policy, he estimated that “there will not be any differentiation in the budget”.

While on the issue of the next President of the Republic, M. Voridis, after saying that he has not heard any relevant discussion, emphasized: “We must listen to the Prime Minister, who has stated that this discussion is premature and offensive and is currently underway.”

And he concluded by saying that “precisely because the prime minister thinks according to the constitutional order and according to the requirements needed for something as serious as the selection of the person of the President of the Republic, I am sure that, when that time comes, the choice it will be such, which will have wider acceptance”.