Greece ready to start exploratory talks with Turkey in August
Greece is ready to restart the exploratory talks with Turkey that froze in 2016 in August if the neighbouring country deescalates tensions, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said in a regular press briefing on Thursday.
“We are ready to start exploratory contacts, the head of the team has been selected, who is Mr. Apostolidis, who has played this role successfully in the past and we expect Turkey, if it means what it says, to continue the exploratory contacts even in August,” he said.
For Greece, the only outstanding issue between Athens and Ankara is the delimitation of the maritime borders.
Speaking at the 2020 digital Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated a call for bilateral talks with Turkey on maritime zones in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, adding that if these do not work, the two countries should refer the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
