Gerapetritis: A new phase in Greek-Turkish relations which is governed by a productive normality

A new phase in the Greek-Turkish relations “which is governed by a productive normality” has been launched, Foreign Minister Geoege Gerapetritis stated in an interview with public broadcaster ERT on Tuesday, after Monday’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

“There is no need to produce multiple agreements each time or have major issues to deal with,” he said, stressing the importance of these regular meetings.

He also underlined the importance of the two sides being able to discuss and disagree without creating tensions and potential crises, “because our basic position is that we focus on things mutually beneficial.”

Gerapetritis pointed out that there are results from the dialogue and he emphasised that in the last ten months the hostile rhetoric has disappeared and the tension has subsided.

“We all understand the importance of having almost zero migration flows from our eastern borders and no airspace violations,” he said.

“In our wider region where hostilities are unprecedented, being able to have a pillar of stability in our own neighbourhood is extremely important.”

He expressed the belief that this situation can last and underlined that “the dialogue that is taking place now, with any disagreements that may be recorded, is sincere and governed by mutual understanding.”

Referring to the issue of North Macedonia, Gerapetritis clarified that the Greek side demands the complying with those agreed. From the moment an international treaty is ratified in the parliaments, it acquires a force superior to the law. “Neither of the two states can unilaterally revise this dispute, even when they disagree,” he said.

He noted that there is a different institutional treatment in the two states, since, as he said, the Greek government, as the opposition, “had expressed its disagreement over individual chapters that had to do with grey issues that could potentially cause tensions and it seems that they do indeed.”

“Nevertheless, when we came to the government and in the context of the continuity of the state, but also of the constitutional requirement that no government can unilaterally revise treaties, we applied it and demanded its compliance from the other side as well and this is what we will continue to do.”

“The name appears in the Prespa Agreement and cannot be changed under any circumstances. There is no question of amendment,” he said.

“We demand compliance with the Prespa Agreement. We will shape the framework so that there is full implementation,” he noted. “It’s not a matter of self-determination of each political official, it’s a matter of observing what was agreed upon.”