On his TV and in “Today» with them Dimitris Oikonomou and Akis Pavlopoulos the ND MP was found on Friday morning Dora Bakoyannis, which spoke about the crucial meeting of the foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey.

“I think that this meeting will not drastically change the facts. They’ll just put them down to see what the margins are, if there are those margins. From here on, they have to prepare the big meeting, the inter-ministerial meeting in Ankara, that is, they have to discuss the big issue of immigration that occupied yesterday and the well that we saw on TV. The world is currently changing because Trumpso the topics are many. I wouldn’t have expected anything so shocking today”, initially stated Mrs. Bakoyannis, adding that Greece has a firm line, that based on International Law we are obliged to discuss the issue of the continental shelf with our neighbor.

“The continental shelf is not a matter of our discretion, we have to discuss it with the Turks. If we can’t, what does International Law say again? That if we don’t find them, we will go to The Hague. Are we there? No is the answer, we are very very far away, because the Turks are coming with their own lines. Did anyone think that Turkey would turn the tide?” he pointed out soon after, noting that the Turks have a proven willingness to calm things down between us.

“Of course calm waters are a good thing, is there anyone to say the opposite? After the tragedy of Sminagos Iliakis we were shocked, but 20 days later I was in Istanbul. Why was I in Istanbul, because I liked to go? I was in Istanbul, to calm the waters and ethers. Because that night both Greek and Turkish F16s had risen. So when you go with calm waters, it’s an achievement for them and for us.”

“When Mitsotakis speaks to Congress, he is like a fish in water”

Answering a question about the specifications for negotiations with Turkey to proceed, he stated that they exist, but they depend on too many things and on a general situation beyond Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Recep Tayyip Erdoganemphasizing that we shouldn’t expect anything unless the next US president sits in his chair first.

“It’s no coincidence that everyone was watching the US elections yesterday, it plays a decisive role in who the president is, what his priorities are, what he’s going to do. What he will do in the Middle East is the concern of the whole world. Will he look to end the war at a point where Israel is on the winning side, but at the same time remain steadfast in the two states? Will he do it differently? How it goes about it plays a decisive role, because today Turkey has a vendetta with Israel and the last thing it wants is to have Hamas inside its country.”

At the same time, the former minister estimated that Donald Trump can do what Greece also wants, that is to push for a Turkey within NATO, a part of the West that does not operate uncontrollably, while she reminded that Erdogan’s problems regarding missiles, the F35 and the cut of F16 started under Trump and not under Biden. “As French President Macron said, Trump came to serve American interests. The question is, are we able to serve European interests? Mitsotakis has a quality that no European leader has, he knows America by heart. When he speaks to Congress, he’s like a fish in water.”

“I have no examples of national retreats – Let Velopoulos put on a marshal’s uniform and go to fight”

Asked about the fears of national concessions in Greek-TurkishMrs. Bakoyannis stated that she has not seen such a sample. “We have a government that has equipped the country like no other in the past. We have a government that managed to make Greek-Turkish into Euro-Turkish, we have a government with joint decisions of the EU that tell our friend Mr. Rama the whole Greek narrative as European”.

At the same time, he attacked the president of the Hellenic Solution Kyriakos Velopouloswho spoke of war with Turkey, calling on him to “put on a field marshal’s uniform, take the physikliki and go to fight”.

“People need to understand that all these big mouthed words have an impact. If Mr. Velopoulos wants someone to go to war, he should go, send his children, do conscription, etc. So are we serious in this country?” he said characteristically.

As for its placement Antonis Samaras about “disastrous solutions being cooked up”, the ND MP said:

“I don’t know what he believes or where he bases his information. Mr. Gerapetritis already asked me the day before yesterday to call the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament before Fidan comes on Tuesday the 13th of the month, to inform. During the tenure of Gerapetritis, I have held more such meetings for information than any other time. Let Mr. Samaras call Mr. Gerapetritis to calm him down so that the man can sleep peacefully at night.”

“The Aegean is not a Greek lake”

Finally, Dora Bakoyannis clarified that the first principle of any negotiation is that you never come saying what you are willing to do and what you are not, but you go with your positions in full.

“To be clear, the Aegean is not a Greek lake, the interests there are not only Greece-Turkey, but global. How many channels you will have, how international waters will be, are of interest to the Russians primarily because they go down, they are interested in world navigation. So these are topics that when you discuss them, you have to have a sense of the context you are in. Of course, in the Aegean it is mainly us, but we are not the only ones”.