Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis has said that Athens and Ankara have gradually reached “a certain level of trust” through transparent communication channels.
The rapprochement between the two nations over the past 15 months, with the leaders of both countries convening multiple times, has borne significant fruit, Gerapetritis told Greek daily Kathimerini.
Both nations’ foreign ministers were instructed by their leaders to evaluate the current conditions for conducting comprehensive talks on the delineation of the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone, he said.
All matters within this framework are expected to be discussed during Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s planned visit to Athens in November, the Greek minister added.
Even if the parties fail to reach a consensus within this framework, while negotiations on maritime jurisdiction may not proceed, both sides will strive to preserve the prevailing positive climate in bilateral relations, he said.
Highlighting the necessity of pursuing an active and solution-oriented policy in the bilateral consultations, Gerapetritis stated, “We do not aim to proceed to a 65th round of exploratory talks. After 21 years and 64 rounds of discussions, we have failed to reach a substantive level of negotiation with Türkiye, neither in terms of content nor process.”
“More often than not, we have ended these rounds in a worse position than when we began. Historically, inertia in complex matters of foreign policy has been shown to cause harm, while meaningful action, even taken unilaterally, tends to yield constructive outcomes.”
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