The Hague is still a long way off, said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) press conference on Sunday when asked about Greek-Turkish relations ahead of his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday in New York.

“Greece has not changed its strategy towards Turkey. My intention was to talk with Turkey and for our issues to be resolved based on international law. When we disagree, things should not be taken to extremes,” he pointed out.

At the same time, he made it clear that issues of sovereignty are not going to enter the negotiation table, nor issues concerning the islands of the eastern Aegean. He himself is not willing to discuss them with Turkey. “Turkey has an interest in approaching the West, and the route to Europe goes through having good relations with Greece. This is a weapon we have in our hands for the normalization of Greek-Turkish relations. Let’s not expect for issues from the past to be resolved overnight, but let’s agree that when we disagree, things shouldn’t lead to extreme rhetoric,” he noted.

He also underlined that for 40 years we have been discussing this issue with Turkey, and he knows that policies do not change from one moment to the next, but – as he said – “even if we cannot agree, this does not oblige us to be permanently on edge, like the tensions we experienced in the last four years.”

Source: Ekathimerini.com