Greek PM says dialogue with Turkey possible
With tensions at a consistently high level in the past couple of years between Athens and Ankara, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis insisted at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Greece “will not go to war with Turkey.”
Speaking on a panel with Fareed Zakaria, the Greek PM said he still believes it’s possible to resolve Greece’s differences with Turkey by speaking with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“We should be able to sit down with Turkey as reasonable adults and resolve our main difference, which is the delimitation of maritime zones in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.”
It is a complicated issue, he said, because of the geography of the Aegean, noting that Greece has successfully delimited zones with Italy and Egypt, and will refer the issue with Albania to the International Court of Justice.
“You don’t threaten your neighbors,” he added, “and you leave the channels of communication open.”
Erdogan and Turkish officials have repeatedly warned that Turkish troops could arrive in Greece “suddenly one night,” and have gone as far threatening to strike Athens with ballistic missiles.
Meanwhile, there was a barrage of violations in the Aegean Sea on Thursday by Turkish jets. The violations over the northeastern Aegean totaled six, while three violations of the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR) were recorded.
