Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday expressed optimism about the resumption of exploratory talks to settle the maritime dispute with Turkey and said he was ready to discuss ways to move the row to international courts
ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2021) Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday expressed optimism about the resumption of exploratory talks to settle the maritime dispute with Turkey and said he was ready to discuss ways to move the row to international courts.
On January 25, Turkey and Greece will resume probing contacts, which were broken off in 2016, on how to resolve their maritime disputes in the resources-rich Eastern Mediterranean. The 61st round of talks will take place in Istanbul.
"We are approaching the probing contacts, which will begin on January 25, with optimism, confidence, but also with hope. However, we approach them without naivety," Mitsotakis said while addressing the parliament.
Greece can settle the "big dispute" with Turkey within the framework of law, as with other countries, if Ankara abandons unilateral attempts to question the sovereign rights of Greece and comes to the negotiating table, the prime minister added.
According to Mitsotakis, the EU may introduce significant sanctions against Turkey if it does not support de-escalation in the long term. The United States also took a "decisive position" on the issue.
"Therefore, we will be happy to discuss as part of international law the issue, on which we have disagreed for decades and which has triggered the recent tensions, namely the delimitation of maritime zones in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean," the politician said.
Turkey and Greece have long been at odds over their conflicting claims to the oil-and gas-rich Cypriot continental shelf. Their ties hit the lowest point last year after Turkey sent a seismic survey vessel to the disputed waters, prompting Greece to put its troops on alert.
Both sides say they are open for dialogue. Athens, at the same time, states readiness to discuss only one unresolved issue, namely maritime delimitation, while Ankara demands discussions on all controversial issues, including the militarization of the islands, the situation with national minorities in Greece and other topics.
