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A week of rapid developments for the launch of the bilateral dialogue processes between Greece and Turkey may turn out next week.
The die is cast
His imminent arrival NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday in Ankara and Tuesday in Athens and the meetings that he will hold with Mevlut Tsavousoglou and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Nikos Dendias and Nikos Panayotopoulos indicate that there will be discussions that go far beyond the technical part of the crisis prevention mechanism in the Middle East. within NATO.
Stoltenberg’s visit to Turkey and Greece in combination with the fermentations for next meeting of Nikos Dendias with Mevlut Tsavousoglou Heralding an imminent meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, they show that the cube of Greek-Turkish dialogue has been toppled.
It is recalled that in recent days Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu had hinted that contacts were being made to have a meeting with Nikos Dendias in the coming days or weeks and some Turkish media placed a meeting of the two Foreign Ministers on October 8 in Bratislava in a forum where NATO Secretary General.
The German bloc and the NATO mechanism
It is worth noting that the background to the EU Summit shows that coordinated steps are being taken in this direction between Berlin, Brussels and Washington. It is revealing that the German bloc, with the help of Italy, Spain and other countries, in EU Summit In order not to decide on the imposition of sanctions on Turkey, it was done by invoking the operation of the NATO mechanism to prevent crises in the Eastern Mediterranean.
According to information from MEGA, Germany rejected a proposal from Greece to activate sanctions the first time that Turkey undertakes new provocative actions and invoked the de-escalation mechanism decided in NATO as an appropriate measure in case of a new Greek-Turkish confrontation.
In this sense, the fact that Stoltenberg came to Greece and Turkey during the days of the EU Summit was not just a coincidence.
Pompeo’s messages and the Turkish-Libyan pact at the UN
It is noted that the week may have ended with the EU Summit with the well-known and not very encouraging messages for Greece, but also its resounding silences. Mike pompeo during their trip to Thessaloniki and Crete they were also not encouraging, despite what the Greek government has said to the contrary.
In fact, these developments came to be sealed from the formal UN Protocol on the Turkish-Libyan Pact and Turkey in the context of its implementation issued two more anti-Navtex for exercises southeast of Crete and south of Kastelorizo.
The demilitarization of the islands
With these data, the processes for the beginning of exploratory contacts begin and with the Turkish side talking about parallel conversations at three levels while continuing to establish a broad dialogue framework that includes issues of Greek sovereignty in the Aegean such as the demilitarization of the islands and the non-extension of territorial waters to 12 miles.
Newer Turkish post he pointed at Fourni and Lemnos. In a Sozcu article titled “Greeks Equip Islands with German and American Weapons,” the newspaper cites photos of an armored vehicle in Chios, an anti-aircraft gun in Samos, and a Hummer in Thassos.
Former Secretary General of the Turkish Defense Ministry, Ümit Yalım, also refers to military equipment or personnel stationed on other islands, such as Samos, Samothrace, Ikaria, Agios Efstratios, Lesbos and Psara.
And Yalim concludes: “According to the Lausanne Treaty, Greece only has the right to use these islands.” The islets and airspace belong to Turkey. “
Turkish claims for the scope of maritime zones
In essence, these Turkish claims to the Aegean are intertwined with Turkey’s claims to the extent of the maritime zones it claims in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean.
“The accusations on the Greek Cypriot maritime border are excessive and contrary to international law. Achieving a fair maritime border in the eastern Mediterranean is the main pillar of our policy. That is why Turkey, beginning with President Erdogan, has asked the states Eastern Mediterranean coasts dialogue and cooperation. “We sincerely hope that Greece will enter into a process of substantial dialogue,” he said. Mevlüt Tsavousoglu στη La Stampa.
Our difference in The Hague
The Greek government has constantly insisted that the only topic in the Greek-Turkish talks is the definition of maritime zones (EEZ and continental shelf) and this was repeated by Nikos Dendias, who expressed the hope that the exploratory talks would start immediately.
“Greece is a country that respects international law and the law of the sea. It has repeatedly asked Turkey to resolve our differences under international and maritime law, and if, despite hope, we do not agree, our The dispute will be resolved by the Court of The Hague. This is our position, I think it is a position of a modern European country. We have shown that we can resolve our differences: we have signed an agreement with Italy, which we have been negotiating for fifty years, and We have also signed an agreement with Egypt, an issue that we have been negotiating for 15 years. We can solve problems, “said Mr. Dendias.
At the same time, of course, the opposition has asked the Prime Minister to clarify his position on “important differences” or “differences” and clarify whether they are being discussed or will be discussed with Turkey together with the maritime zones.
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