“The message we’re sending is clear. Turkey cannot be a country violating International Law and us discussing Turkey in Europe only offering a path lined with roses. The European Union needs to show that there is also a difficult path: the path of sanctions,” stressed Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis in his interview on Parapolitika 90.1 FM with journalists Dimitris Takis and Christina Korai, adding that the March meeting of the European Council will consider EU-Turkey relations as a whole.
Commenting on Erdogan’s recent statements, he said that these incendiary statements do not help the dialogue, a key condition for the continuation of which is avoidance of unilateral provocations. He pointed to contradictory messages being sent by Ankara, recalling that Greece’s clear goal is to normalize Greek-Turkish relations through dialogue.
Asked about statements made by the spokesperson for President Erdogan, Ibrahim Kalin, he stressed that Turkish soldiers are not guarantors of peace in Cyprus and that no one in the international community can accept that conditions for peace will be created on the island while there are occupation troops there. “This statement certainly doesn't contribute to creating a climate that shows Turkey is coming to the dialogue with a desire to find a solution,” he said regarding the upcoming five-sided meeting.
He reiterated that the Cyprus problem will be resolved in accordance with the UN resolutions and in the framework of Cyprus’s membership in the EU, which, for the first time, will be attending the talks in its new role as observer.
February 12, 2021