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With Athens and Ankara announcing imminent communication including in the form of a teleconference between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president has spent the last 24 hours in a barrage of diplomatic contacts with European leaders and the NATO secretary general for his positions of ahead of the start of the 61st round of exploratory contacts between Greece and Turkey, which have been officially announced.
Greece and Cyprus have maximalist positions
After the teleconference he had with Angela Merkel and Charles Michel as well as the long communication with Emmanuel Macron after many months, Tayyip Erdogan spoke today via teleconference with the president of the Commission. Ursula von der Leyen, while she had telephone contact with him NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
In all these communications, Erdogan’s line is the same, constantly repeated to his European interlocutors. According to Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s provocation is not responsible for the tension in the eastern Mediterranean, but at the heart of this tension are the “maximalist” positions of Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, which “ignores the Turkish Cypriots.”
He repeated them to the head of the Commission, while at the same time the Turkish president asked him to investigate the “violations committed by Greece and FRONTEX” on the issue of refugees.
In the context of this aggressive rhetoric to force the Greek side to defend itself, essentially in view of the Greek-Turkish dialogue, the Turkish president claims that Ankara has supported the dialogue from the beginning and is ready for exploratory contacts with Greece, saying that it hopes that this Greece will never again miss the opportunity for diplomacy.
Greetings…
What is particularly important is the fact that from Mr. Erdogan’s European and NATO interlocutors in the last 24 hours, without exceptions, the only thing that is essentially articulated at the level of public discourse is the greeting for the start of the direct Greek-Turkish conversations.
For example, the president of the Commission described the communication she had with Tayyip Erdogan as “useful”, while in her Twitter post she notes that she “welcomes the planned start of talks” between Greece and Turkey.
Specifically, Ursula von der Leyen states in her tweet:
“A very useful discussion with President Erdogan on developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and migration.” I welcome the planned start of the talks with Greece, which are essential for stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and for a constructive relationship with the EU”.
Very helpful exchange with the president @RTErdogan on developments in the eastern Mediterranean and on migration. I welcome the planned start of talks with Greece, which are essential for stability in the eastern Mediterranean and for a constructive relationship with the EU. pic.twitter.com/5mWKTh6dZc
– Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) September 23, 2020
According to Jens Stoltenberg’s post on Twitter, they discussed “the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and NATO’s ongoing efforts to decongest the military disaster to prevent incidents and accidents.”
The NATO secretary general limited himself to adding that “Turkey and Greece are valuable allies and NATO is a platform for dialogue.” It is emphasized that in other statements made today by Mr. Stoltenberg He stressed that NATO initiatives at the technical level are complementary to Germany’s diplomatic initiatives to sit at the Athens-Ankara dialogue table.
Spoke to the president @RTErdogan about the situation in the #EastMed and ongoing efforts @NATO of military conflict to avoid incidents and accidents. Both Turkey and Greece are valuable allies and #NATO it is a platform for dialogue.
– Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) September 23, 2020
Germany welcomes talks and blocks sanctions
In this context, it should be noted that the Foreign Ministry welcomed the initiation of exploratory contacts through statements by government spokesman Stephen Seibert, who stressed that the German government “welcomes the fact that Greece and Turkey have agreed to soon resume the negotiations. bilateral talks “. of the substance was half-pronounced on the question of sanctions at the EU Summit postponed on 1 and 2 October.
“The German government” shares an interest in a broader and more constructive relationship between the EU and Turkey. Europe and Turkey have many common interests, there are many, “Seibert said, referring to the statements of the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. Great opportunities for closer cooperation: issues of economic cooperation, issues of regional stability, but also migrations. “In this sense, it is good to have consultations between the EU and Turkey,” he added.
In this sense, the Greek-Turkish agreement to start talks will have an impact on the EU Summit. “We have a feeling,” Seibert said significantly, “that it can help the European Council in terms of the EU-EU relationship.” Of Turkey “.
In fact according to Deutsche Welle The German government and Angela Merkel will seek to prevent the next European Council from imposing sanctions on Turkey. 
In any case, these feuds between the main European capitals with Ankara and a contributor to the coronation that led – immediately after the Erdogan-Merkel-Michel teleconference – to the cancellation and transfer a week after the European Council, the evolution moves to a purely bilateral level. between Greece and Turkey, while Cyprus appears to remain a meteor.
However Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked Turkey for consistency and continuity to reduce tensions during the EPP conference call.
Mitsotaki – Erdogan teleconference in process
In this context, the next developments are expected to be rapid, as the possibility is already in the works. Kyriakos Mitsotakis directly with Tayyip Erdogan.
In fact, both the Greek and the Turkish sides leave open the possibility of communication between the Greek prime minister and the Turkish president.
Government spokesman Stelios Petsas did not rule out that the start of the Athens-Ankara talks could be signaled by communications at the highest political level even earlier. postponed the EU Summit on 1 and 2 October.
As Stelios Petsas stressed, no one can prejudge anything and that the basic conditions are trust and good preparation.
“If they exist, anything is possible,” he told ERT, describing the resumption of exploratory contacts between Greece and Turkey as a positive step.
At the same time, the Turkish Hurriyet talks about an upcoming teleconference between Tayyip Erdogan and Kyriakos Mitsotakis and, as he writes after yesterday Erdogan’s conference call with Angela Merkel and Emmauel Macron “President Erdogan gave the message that we are ready for a dialogue with Greece. And that is what Merkel and Michel wanted to hear” while adding that exploratory contacts would begin on August 7, however the agreement between Greece and Egypt on the ZEE withdrew the dialogue.
The movements of Athens
Athens maintains that the agenda refers to the discussion of the main difference between the Greek-Turks from 1974 to today, namely the definition of the continental shelf and the EEZ, and does not include what Tayyip Erdogan occasionally requests. In this sense, the two parties will seek to find common ground in terms of a possible dialogue.
In fact, it clarifies Nikos Dendias, who in his remarks on Tuesday night said that we are not talking about negotiations but about discussions that will determine the rules from which the negotiations will take place.
Speaking in an online discussion organized by the Konstantinos Karamanlis Institute for Democracy, Mr. Dendias explained that having conversations means trying to find rules on which we will negotiate. “Why is it so difficult?” Why doesn’t Turkey accept international law as a common rule? “He asked.
“We will participate in this effort and we will try to restart exploratory contacts,” he said, expressing hope that it will be an opportunity, but noted that it is still too early. 
Ankara’s aspirations
For its part, however, Turkey essentially insists on a broader dialogue that will not deal exclusively with the definition of maritime zones (EEZ and continental shelf), and Erdogan also moved in this direction in his talks with European leaders. and the Secretary General of NATO.
The Turkish Navtex is already operating in this direction for exercises in the northeast Aegean islands, specifically this time in Lemnos on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The symbolism of this version of Navtex is evident, since it was issued at a time when Athens announced the beginning of exploratory contacts and is linked to the claim of Turkey demilitarization of the Aegean islands.
So the moment Athens and Ankara shook hands and the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that exploratory contacts will begin in the near future in Istanbul since, according to the label, the next round should take place at headquarters. From the other party (ss the first was in Athens), Ankara essentially accuses Athens of violating the Treaty of Lausanne.
“The regime of demilitarization of the island of Lemnos, as defined by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, has been violated,” reported the Turk Navtex.
Penalties are lowered
In this context, the question of sanctions can remain formally active However, it is even more degraded as it would torpedo the climate of dialogue between Greece and Turkey, which is being promoted by Germany, but with the support of France in this direction, as evidenced by Macron’s telephone conversation with Erdogan.
Regarding the sanctions against Turkey, the government spokesman said that the EU sanctions list against the neighboring country would be approved at the leadership level, which is important because it acted as a deterrent to their provocation.
“The question is how these sanctions will be triggered, if Turkey continues,” the government spokesman said.
What does Athens say about de-escalation measures by Ankara?
“What was evidenced from Turkey’s first de-escalation attempt is transformed into something tangible, which is the resumption of contacts, something that due to the postponement of the European Council, goes to later,” said Petsas, highlighting that the important thing is than once exploratory contacts are initiated to enter a behaviorally provocative recession.
“It is inconceivable to discuss the demarcation of our maritime zones and to see ships in the area,” he said.
He reiterated that there is full coordination with Cyprus and that what matters now is how we get to the European Council: “We will arrive with a list of sanctions adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council and approved by the leaders at the European Council level, but this What The main concern in these days of preparation and the live contacts of the leaders is how these sanctions will be activated in case the provocative behavior continues, for example in the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus ”.
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