Mitsotakis to Trump: Under these conditions there can be a dialogue with Turkey | POLITICS

The conditions under which Greece will enter into a dialogue with Turkey were declared by Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Donald Trump, during their recent telephone conversations.

The Greek prime minister made it clear to the US president that our country will sit at the dialogue table only if Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey stops the challenges, so that a gradual de-escalation of the tense relations between the two countries can be achieved.

“We are ready to pick up the line of exploration from where they left off in 2016, for the only issue that is the definition of maritime zones. “If we cannot agree, we can come to an agreement and go to The Hague,” the prime minister told Donald Trump, according to the Sunday Daily.

“However, to resume the talks, Turkey, which is constantly escalating the challenges, must stop immediately, so that we can escalate,” he added, according to the same information, during his 20-25 minute communication with Donald Trump. .

At the Maximos Palace, they don’t underestimate the close relationships that have developed between the US President and Tayyip Erdogan. But it is obvious that it would be a great “shadow” for him to have a “conflict” of two NATO allies during his presidency. But they attach particular importance to the willingness shown by the US president to intervene in the current crisis. After all, Trump’s message to the prime minister was that “I want to help reduce the escalation.”

Similarly, German Chancellor Angela Merkel would not want the current German presidency of the European Union to be linked to a Greek-Turkish conflict, either by an “accident” or by a new escalation by Erdogan.

Erdogan: Do the Greeks accept what will happen to them?

The Turkish president, however, continues his provocative rhetoric. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking Sunday afternoon at a graduation ceremony for military graduates, went beyond all limits of provocation, addressing the Greek people directly and threatening: “We are provoking our enemies, in the air, in land, at sea. “Do the Greeks accept what is happening to them because of their ambitious and incompetent leaders?” Erdogan said, according to Hurriyet, adding more fuel to the fire.

In fact, he addressed the French people with the same question: “Do the French people know that they will pay because of their ambitious and incompetent leaders?”

And Tayyip Erdogan continued: “As a nation that has been fighting every day for thousands of years, we know all these facts. We know very well the price we pay in this country, with the blood of martyrs. Today we are determined to pay any price. Whatever we do, we will continue to do so. I firmly believe that there is no obstacle for Turkey’s steps with the help of Allah. “Turkey has never been an aggressive state in its history, it is one of the rare cases of a state not colonial”.

“Threats to our rights and interests in the region, especially in the Mediterranean and the Aegean, have also added to our fight against terrorism. The arrow has come out of the bow and it will surely find its target. The real question is: Can those in front of us in the Mediterranean make the same sacrifices? They have seen our determination to protect our rights. Both at the table and in the field. “We don’t want him out of the games,” said Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan: We do not succumb to threats and blackmail

Previously, the Turkish president “photographed” the Greeks as invaders, although he avoided naming them, on the occasion of the national holiday of Victory against the Greeks in 1922. “Turkey will not succumb to threats in the eastern Mediterranean, nor to the language of intimidation and blackmail.” It will continue to defend rights under international law and bilateral agreements. “

“It is no coincidence that those who want to exclude our country from the Eastern Mediterranean and those who tried to invade the country a century ago are the same invaders,” Erdogan said in a message on the occasion of the national holiday.

“As our nation won its fight for independence, it will never hesitate to foresee the wishes and movements for a modern Treaty of Sevres in our blue homeland. “No one should doubt our determination on this issue and our unshakable faith in victory,” he said.

“I wish that Allah rest the souls of all our martyrs, who sacrificed their lives a thousand years ago to protect this homeland, and also a healthy and peaceful life for our veterans. Happy Birthday to Victory Day on August 30 “.

At the same time, in his message, Erdogan also stressed that “the liberation struggle that began under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha in Samsun in 1919 with the Battle of the General Staff achieved a sure and permanent victory. With the victory of August 30, it was proclaimed once again around the world that these lands are our eternal homeland. This victory declared the rebirth of the ashes of the nation that wanted to bury it in history, its prosperity and its reappearance on the stage of history ”.