N. DENDIAS: Thank you for giving me the floor. I must say that, personally, I miss the presence of the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Cavusoglu, who has been a friend for many years. I hope that by next year the situation will have been normalised enough for Mr. Cavusoglu to sit there, next to Mr. Christodoulides.
But the presence of Sameh Shoukry at this meeting and the fact that he was invited says something about the region’s dynamic and how it is evolving.
It’s nothing new to say that Greece has always been at a crossroads of continents and seas, but also of crises. And Greek foreign policy is no stranger to Gordian knots. Multiple crises, the Cyprus problem, the Middle East, Syria, Libya. Greece is also being called up to manage the migration flows that, to a great extent, are the result of crises far from its region. And Greece, as a mid-sized country, is being called upon to manage these flows for the European Union, for which it is a protective eastern shield.
And as Murphy’s law would always have it, at the precise moment when Greece is trying to emerge from a 10-year economic crisis and start to grow, we are now responding to the pandemic crisis. In other words, three crises simultaneously.
As we said earlier, of course, these crises are accompanied by the migration flows. The migration flows are escalating. They are ultimately not aimed at Greece, but at the European Union as a whole. Allow me to repeat something that I firmly believe: that the European Union is the most ambitious endeavour in human history and is trying to respond, doing its best to host millions of migrants. It is working to adopt a new European asylum and migration system that is based on the European acquis and grounded in solidarity and responsibility.
Because the European Union is being called upon, at the same time, to defend a geographical space and something that is perhaps even broader and more important: A space of justice. A space of respect for sovereignty and human rights. A space of understanding and solidarity.
Of course, everyone in and outside the European Union understands that it is unfair for the states of the European periphery, states of first reception, to shoulder the bulk of the burden of receiving migrants. And everyone agrees, in spite of the disparate views that exist, that they are being called up to respond to a common problem, that additional responses are necessary. The existing responses are not enough.
But there is agreement on one key issue. That the migration crisis cannot become a tool for countries neighbouring on the European Union to use as a means to geopolitical ends. Exploitation of migrants is illegal and inhuman, and that is why it is totally unacceptable.
We saw this exploitation in action in the context of the crisis last February and March, when all of the European states stood in solidarity with Greece.
Many people say that diplomacy, in spite of the repeated resolutions of the UN Security Council, for example, and many initiatives, has not managed to provide definitive solutions to the continual crises in our region.
And that, consequently, diplomacy has failed. We in Greece maintain that diplomacy has simply not achieved the results we want yet, and that it is imperative to continue the efforts to achieve peaceful, political solutions to the crises.
The perpetuation of crises – we in Greece say – and the so-called military solutions are very far from being actual solutions, and of course the law of ‘might makes right’ cannot bring solutions.
The choice of the Mitsotakis government and, I must say, of all Greek governments, is resolution through diplomatic dialogue and not through military means. Of course, my country has military means and is very proud of this.
But we always say – just to be clear – that the real balance of power is not shaped by medieval boasting. International law and the peaceful resolution of disputes through dialogue are the only acceptable choice for states governed by law, a modern state that is a member of our international community. And of course, first and foremost, I am talking about Greece.
Unfortunately, Greece is facing a Turkish policy of perceived power that is not limited to the migration issue. It is a neo-Ottoman policy, a policy that wants to revise the legal status of the region – a legal status that has been shaped by a number of international treaties that set down the borders of the states of the Eastern Mediterranean and defined the rules amongst us. It is an expansionist policy directed against Greece, but also against Cyprus, Iraq, Syria and Libya.
Ladies and gentlemen, the borders of the heart or the borders of the blue homeland, in Turkey’s view, appear – again, in Turkey’s view – not to be subject to international legality. And thus, Turkey is trying to create a new reality, ignoring the obvious: That violations of international legality do not create law.
One instance of these violations was the signing of the illegal Turkish-Libyan memoranda with the government in Tripoli. And one of these memoranda, the one concerning the supposed maritime zones between the two countries, attempted to usurp the sovereign rights of Greek islands such as Crete and Rhodes.
Another instance of these violations is the attempt by the Turkish survey vessel Oruc Reis to carry out illegal surveys over the Greek continental shelf.
I hope the international community saw – our friends in Europe and the region certainly saw this – that Greece showed patience and great restraint. And of course, we hope that these violations are not the only response Turkey wants to make to the need for delimitation of an exclusive economic zone and continental shelf with its neighbouring countries and, of course, with Greece.
Lawful delimitations between states have been carried out not just by states in the Mediterranean, but in many seas around the world, and it is the only legal path. Greece – and here I will return to the original question on the effectiveness of diplomacy – after what I must admit were ten difficult years, signed agreements with Italy and Egypt that are both models of the implementation of the rules of international law.
Thus, we submitted, in the most convincing way possible, our view on the resolution of disputes, and we will continue our efforts in the same direction. A short while ago, the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, sat in this very seat, I think, and described the reality of what has already started to happen in an effort to resolve the dispute between Albania and Greece.
And of course, Greece will continue to try to find a way to resolve its dispute with Turkey. If Turkey allows this, of course. If Turkey realises that the time of the gunboat has passed, for about a century now, and that the Eastern Mediterranean can become a sea of peace and prosperity for all the states and all the peoples here.
We in Greece are endeavouring to contribute to transform the Balkan and Mediterranean crossroads of overlapping and protracted crises into a level crossing and a sea of peace and mutual understanding.
And I want to be clear. In our view, and looking to the future, this also includes a modern Turkey. We hope that this is our common future and the legacy we leave for future generations.
Thank you very much.”
MODERATOR: One question. Right now, regarding the current situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, with Turkey, what is your assessment of recent developments? Has there been de-escalation, or are we in the same framework?
N. DENDIAS: Thank you very much for the question. I must say that we had a positive sign from Turkey. The Oruc Reis is no longer over the Greek continental shelf. It is in its port, in Antalya, Turkey.
If this initial sign is an example of the conduct that Turkey is going to adopt, then it is welcome. And I repeat the words of Prime Minister Mitsotakis: “Greece is always ready to talk. But we cannot talk under threat, under pressure or blackmail.”
In other words, yes, the climate is better today than it was a few days ago. Let’s hope that this is the kind of conduct that will continue and will leave room for dialogue, for discussion and, in the end, for negotiations.
September 16, 2020