No room for dialogue with Ankara, EU must act, Greek FM tells European counterparts
Ankara’s recent actions indicate that there is no room for a “positive” with Turkey, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias told his European Union counterparts in a video conference on Thursday, adding that the EU must be prepared to impose sanctions that will compel Turkey to fall in line with international law.
According to an announcement from the Foreign Ministry, Dendias underlined that in its conclusions, the European Council on October 1-2 had agreed to initiate a “positive political EU-Turkey agenda” with Ankara provided “constructive efforts to stop illegal activities vis-à-vis Greece and Cyprus are sustained.”
He went on to detail incidents where Ankara has done the opposite of that by escalating its illegal energy surveys in areas encroaching on the Greek continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean and other violations.
The Greek foreign minister also referred to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent antics in the former seaside resort of Varosha, in Famagusta in the Turkish-occupied north of Cyprus, saying that the fenced-off quarter “is not a place for a picnic.” The visit, he said, was an “affront to all Cypriots” and a blatant violation of United Nations Security Council regulations.
