FM Gerapetritis highlights Greek-Turkish cooperation at EU meeting
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Gerapetritis highlighted the positive agenda in GreekßTurkish relations during a speech at the informal working lunch with his European Union counterparts and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
“Greece and Turkey, despite the fundamental differences that exist between them, cooperate on important positive agenda issues, and it is crucial to maintain open channels of communication to prevent crises,” said Gerapetritis.
At the same time, the Greek Foreign Minister stressed that Greece encourages Turkey’s European perspective, which can be mutually beneficial for both the EU and Turkey.
However, he added that Turkey must respect the international law in its entirety, as well as the sovereignty and sovereign rights of all European Union member states.
Regarding the Cyprus issue, the Foreign Minister highlighted the need to find a solution within the framework of the UNSC resolutions and called on Turkey to exhaust all possibilities to restart the negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations.
Earlier, EU High Representative, Josep Borrell, expressed his satisfaction with the participation of Fidan, in the informal EU Foreign Ministers’ Council.
Borel stated that this is the first time in several years that Turkey’s Foreign Minister has been invited to an informal EU Council and he thanked everyone who contributed to making this decision possible.
He added that dialogue is the best way to solve issues between Turkey and EU states like Cyprus “who has difficult relations with Turkey.”
