Greece's new government has tasked Foreign Minister Georgios Gerapetritis with resolving all outstanding issues with Turkey within one year, Greek news website militaire.gr reported on Wednesday following the minister's informal meeting with journalists
ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2023) Greece's new government has tasked Foreign Minister Georgios Gerapetritis with resolving all outstanding issues with Turkey within one year, Greek news website militaire.gr reported on Wednesday following the minister's informal meeting with journalists.
After a meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit on July 12, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said they would seek rebooting the bilateral relationship, marred by a slew of territorial and diplomatic disputes. They are expected to meet again at a High Level Cooperation Council meeting in Thessaloniki later this year.
Gerapetritis and his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, will be supervising all processes related to the Greek-Turkish normalization, the news website wrote. This will likely mean no more normalization talks between the military and diplomats of the two countries within contact groups, it added.
A meeting between the top diplomats of Greece and Turkey is now in the works, with no date set yet but likely before the council in Thessaloniki, Gerapetritis was cited as telling journalists.
Greece's top diplomat also said that the reboot of bilateral relationship would consist of three parts: regular sessions of foreign ministers and diplomats, contacts between military officials and economic diplomacy.
Gerapetritis reportedly made it clear to journalists during the meeting that he will put an end to the belligerent narrative of his predecessor Nikos Dendias, who is now the country's defense minister, and focus on actually finding common ground with Turkey for the benefit of future generations.
Gerapetritis is expected to act without delay and try to achieve normalization within one year as he reportedly plans to move from Greece's foreign ministry to the European Parliament after next year's elections.
In the meantime, all other aspects of Greece's foreign policy except those relating to Turkey will be handled by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandra Papadopoulou, who has previously served as the Greek ambassador to the United States, the report said.
Problems in relationship between Greece and Turkey have deep historical roots. The countries have fought four wars since the late 19th century. Most significant sources of conflict include Turkey's drilling for gas in the Mediterranean, the Cyprus issue, and the situation with the Turkish minority in Greece.
