FM highlights Greek approach in Cyprus visit
Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias paid a symbolic visit to Cyprus on Tuesday on the occasion of the anniversary of the proclamation of the pseudo-state in the Turkish-occupied territories of the island.
Dendias noted that the declaration in 1983 was condemned by the United Nations Security Council, stressing, however, that even today “Turkey continues to act illegally,” citing Ankara’s renewed violations in the fenced-off town of Varosha in the island’s occupied north, its illegal actions in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and its instrumentalization of migrants.
During the recent meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, both Dendias and his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides reiterated the need not to let the Turkey’s delinquent behavior go unanswered.
He insisted however there is not “the slightest punitive attitude toward Turkish society,” adding that, on the contrary, “we hope that one day Turkey will embrace international law, stop promoting a neo-Ottoman, revisionist agenda, stop having destabilizing dreams.”
Dendias also participated in the Economist conference in Nicosia, noting that Greece and Cyprus, although not major countries or regulators of international developments, desire to contribute toward the creation of better societies and states and communities via the respect for and promotion of international law and the international law of the sea.
Dendias went on to cite examples that prove Greece is moving in the direction of international law as well as the consolidation of stability in the region, rejecting “the Hobbesian dialectic.”
In particular, he referred to the EEZ delimitation agreements with Italy and Egypt, the initial agreement for the referral of Greece’s dispute with Albania to The Hague, and the defense agreements with France and the United Arab Emirates, which, as he underlined, include an explicit reference to the Charter of the United Nations.
What’s more, he also referred to the tripartite and multilateral cooperation schemes focusing on Greece and Cyprus, the forthcoming quadripartite with Egypt and France in Athens and their goals.
