Greek Foreign Minister: We are reaching a level of trust with Turkey

Speaking to the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis made assessments regarding the current agenda.

Gerapetritis noted that the two countries have reached a sufficient level of trust step by step through open communication channels during the rapprochement process of the last 15 months.

Stating that the foreign ministers of the two countries have received instructions from their leaders to evaluate the current conditions for conducting comprehensive talks on the determination of the continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Gerapetritis expressed that all issues within this scope will be addressed during Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's planned visit to Athens in November.

Gerapetritis emphasized that if the parties cannot agree on the framework, they will try to maintain the current good climate in bilateral relations even if the talks on the determination of maritime jurisdiction areas do not continue.

Pointing to the necessity of pursuing an active policy towards a solution regarding the consultative talks between the two countries, the Greek Minister stated the following:

"We are not aiming to go to the 65th round of consultative talks. After 64 rounds of consultative talks over 21 years, we have not reached a level of negotiation with Turkey, neither in terms of content nor process. As a result, we generally ended up in a worse position at the end of the round than we were at the beginning. Historically, it has been proven that inertia in complex issues of foreign policy usually causes harm. Only action produces useful results."