By Yannis Anifantis

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Gerapetritis categorically refuted the objections of the opposition regarding the exercise of secret diplomacy in the Greek-Turkish dialogue from the government seats of the Plenary Session of the Parliament.

“Don’t bring up the issue of secret diplomacy again. I don’t think there has ever been a Minister in the post-colonial period who informed the Parliament in such a detailed and systematic way, as is the case in the current situation”the Minister clarified, repeating that in his meeting with Hakan Fidan, the disagreement between the two sides was established regarding the only difference which is the delimitation of the EEZ and continental shelf.

“We did disagree. We argued with no concessions, no concessions, no concession to our sovereignty. Do you think we should stop talking?’he asked in response to a topical question from Alexandros Kazamias of Plefsis Eleftherias, adding that the dialogue will continue. “With a commitment to International Law, with diplomatic capital that is greater than ever, we enter with security, pride and confidence in the debate and will do what is in the national interest”underlined Mr. Gerapetritis.

At the same time, the Minister clarified that the government “does not have any phobia syndrome” in response to the criticism of the opposition that “is slipping into full-scale dialogue with Turkey”. “We don’t have any phobia syndrome because we are never going to slip. The reason we feel that there is a good opportunity for the Greek state to enter the discussion on the difficult issues is precisely because Greece is currently at the highest possible level of diplomatic power, it has a strong international footprint, a strong defense, it has been strengthened in the last five years and has an economy that is in constant traffic. For this reason, our own position is that we still believe in the Greek-Turkish dialogue, the political dialogue and the positive agenda continue. If it is not possible to discuss the big issue that is the delimitation of the economic zone, we will make sure to ensure that the rest of the dialogue will continue, so that we do not have phenomena of tensions and crises in our neighborhood”the Minister emphasized.