Double slap to Turkey by…Adonis

The harsh background of an unknown diplomatic battle, which was fought on many fronts, was revealed this morning by Health Minister Adonis Georgiades, speaking on SKAI radio.

A few days ago, Greece – as a country and not as a government! – won two major “victories” on the international stage – diplomatic and commercial – against Turkey: the registration of the trademark “Turkagean”, formally in the EU and practically in the USA, was cancelled. Yet few media outlets are concerned, and certainly none, with the tension that two and a half years ago, in June 2022 – when the “blunder” of Greece allowing the use of the term “Turkagean” was made public – there was a feverish protest against the government and Adonis Georgiades. The latter was labelled from incompetent – who did not understand what was going on – to “traitor”. And his resignation request was the most lenient oppositional approach of the time. Even his assurances that he would do everything he could to overturn it were taken as… “a joke”.

Now the facts are different – the EU and US decisions are there, no one can express opinions or assessments without ignoring the facts. And the fact is not just that a mere trademark under the title was removed: “Turkagean”. As Adonis Georgiades revealed, speaking today on SKAI radio…the benefits are much greater.

The Georgiades’ revelation

The Minister has just today revealed that he almost ignored the recommendations to manage – then as Minister of Development – the case as a “commercial matter”. And he upgraded Greece’s appeal to the level of “national claims”. As he said: “I also made a political choice. While the advice of the lawyers was to stick to commercial-type arguments, I judged that they would not be sufficient because they would prove to be quite weak. I followed a legal line, which also involved geopolitical reasons, which prohibit the use of this trademark by Turkey. This mark conceals Turkey’s illegal territorial claims against Greece. I filed everything: maps, blue homeland, illegal Turkish-Colombian memorandum, etc.”.

Apart from this important revelation, A.Georgiades explained how this approach strengthens Greece’s national positions: “And the importance of the decision is that the reason for cancelling the use of the Turkaegean brand is not commercial, but is based on the fact that this brand conceals geopolitical aspirations. That is, it rejects as illegal Turkish claims. The trademark was seen as a vehicle for Turkey’s illegal claims. This is shocking that a European decision refers to the illegality of Turkey’s territorial claims.”After all this, the Minister cannot hide his satisfaction:”This is a shocking success for Greece. And I am really proud that we have completed this work. We won both appeals, one in Europe and the other in the first instance in America. And in essence, Turkaegean became a boomerang against Turkey.”

The background and chronicle of the moves.

However, for the Turkkaegean case to reach this point, it required hard and consistent work against the questioning of the intentions of both the Government and the then Minister of Development.  

Today A.Georgiades also revealed the chronicles of all the moves made since June 2022. “We managed to turn Turkaegean into a boomerang against the territorial claims of the Turks against Greece”. And he explained: “these are two decisions. The process in the US is not complete. In the US we filed an appeal to prevent Turkey from registering the Turkaegean brand in America. There, the process has a pre-trial stage, which presupposes an appeal whether it has a chance of passing or not. That is what we have achieved. So, they move on to the next stage, the regular process. Thus Turkey cannot patent Turkaegean in the United States.”

Με τη σημερινή απόφαση του EUIPO έγινε δεκτή η αίτηση ακύρωσης της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, εκπροσωπούμενης από εμένα, ως τότε Υπουργού Ανάπτυξης και Επενδύσων κατά του σήματος «Turkaegean».

Και τι δεν άκουσα τότε για την υπόθεση αυτή. Στην αρχή για το ότι δεν έκανα τίποτε κατά… pic.twitter.com/ZQlCpLOXOv

— Άδωνις Γεωργιάδης (@AdonisGeorgiadi) January 10, 2025

At the same time, however, there were also results in the EU, which the Minister presented. We appealed the decision, which had been issued by the European Bureau of Trademarks. We explained why that decision should be annulled. The European Bureau, in 2021, had accepted the use of the term Turkaegean in the EU. It had given Turkey the right to use it for 10 years, until 2021. We annulled this 2021 decision on Friday. The important thing is not that we annulled the decision. I described the decision as a triumph for its legal aspect. In particular, on 14 August, I found out that an official had not blocked the Turkaegean signal. I had ordered an investigation to see whether the official was to blame or not, and at the same time, I took responsibility for correcting  this great damage to our national interests. It was not the fault of an employee, it was not the fault of the General Secretariat of Commerce, it was not the fault of the Ministry of Development and Investment.”

Ερευνώντας τα αρχεία μου για το πώς φθάσαμε στην μεγάλη εθνική νίκη με το παράνομο σήμα «Turkaegean» θα ήταν παράλειψη μου να μην αναφέρω τον τότε Επίτροπο της Ελλάδος και Αντιπρόεδρο της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής @MargSchinas από την πρώτη στιγμή προσπάθησε να κινητοποιήσει την… pic.twitter.com/TsyziiigGZ

— Άδωνις Γεωργιάδης (@AdonisGeorgiadi) January 11, 2025

The order          

At this point, Adonis Georgiades added that “by order of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and George Gerapetritis, I am reversing this decision. I have instructed the intellectual property organisation and specifically, its chairman Mr. Dimitris Hionis and its secretary general to organise our legal actions. This is the time when Velopoulos is telling me to move to another country and the newspaper Democracy is asking me to resign. While they were cursing at me, I was working with my colleagues.”

Concluding, Adonis Georgiades added that “if the dispute was about Denmark and Sweden, could such a term be used for the sea between them? The logical answer is yes. And that is what I have tried to do. And of course, it is not about Denmark and Sweden, but about Greece and Turkey. That was the reasoning behind that. Turkey can appeal, but the slap was dealt to the Turks. I talked about a great victory for Greece and here comes Filippakis’ newsbreak who started accusing me, that, supposedly, I have achieved nothing in Europe and America. But God is there to see everything! On the same day, the decision on Europe came out. And all those people who were cursing on me, instead of congratulating me, are not placing themselves on the issue.”

Vindication

Two and a half years later, Adonis Georgiades feels vindicated in many ways: both for correcting the technocratic error, and for accepting the strategic political approach to the issue and – it goes without saying – personal vindication against his political opponents. That is why he was generous in his ‘thanks’: ‘I want to say that in a very difficult case I did my duty, and I also want to say a big “thank you” to George Gerapetritis. From the government, the man who was the general coordinator and chose me and my team to represent Greece was George Gerapetritis.He showed me a lot of trust and I proved him right” concluded the Health Minister.

Source: pagenews.gr