"The reception of the Greek aid relief and the Greek flag by Turkish society opens a window of opportunity to reduce the tension in relations between the two peoples", emphasized Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, speaking on Friday, February 17, in a special news program on Türkiye after the earthquake on "Action 24" TV Channel and to journalist Serafim Kotrotsos.
"We want to take advantage of this window of opportunity", Mr. Varvitsiotis said. Türkiye today, two weeks after the strike of the earthquake, is different, the Alternate Minister noted and noted that "there may be a de-escalation in Greek-Turkish relations in the coming months", as there does not seem to be an audience in Türkiye at the moment that is receptive to a grand idealism that would be accompanied by very costly military operations in the Southeastern Mediterranean.
Asked about the possibility of a meeting between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Erdogan on the sidelines of the Donors' Conference for the people of Türkiye and Syria affected by the earthquake, Mr. Varvitsiotis said that "it is not Kyriakos Mitsotakis who has ever closed the door to dialogue". "But a difficult moment, a moment of solidarity and humanity, cannot instantly erase Türkiye's claims", which are expressed not only in words but also within the UN, the Alternate Minister underlined.
Regarding the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Mr. Varvitsiotis said that we expect first of all to discuss the issues of the Strategic Dialogue with the United States. Aside from that, what matters is what Europe and the United States will ask of Türkiye in return for reconstruction aid: Whether it will be the lifting of the veto on NATO enlargement, Türkiye's alignment with the sanctions against Russia, and, of course, better cooperation on the refugee issue to free up unused European funds, which have been blocked as Türkiye is not proceeding with their use in a transparent way, nor fulfilling its obligations under the 2016 EU-Türkiye Statement on migration.
February 18, 2023