ATHENS
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Thursday that he will visit the Turkish capital Ankara on May 13 to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In remarks following a special meeting of the European Council in Brussels, he also touched on the matter of “marine parks,” which Greece announced that it will form in the Aegean and Ionian seas, a move Türkiye has denounced.
“Greece exercises its sovereign rights in the Aegean based on international law and the law of the sea,” he said of the move, adding that he was surprised by Türkiye’s negative reaction.
He added: “I do not believe the improvement of Greek-Turkish relations, which is indisputable and measurable, leads to the hypothesis that Türkiye’s position on the EEZs have changed.”
On the exclusive economic zones issue, he said: “They remain deeply problematic for our country.”
Türkiye cautioned Greece on April 10 against exploiting environmental issues for political gain after Athens announced plans to launch two new marine parks.
The Foreign Ministry urged Greece not to involve outstanding issues between the two countries concerning the Aegean Sea, including “the status of some islands, islets and rocks whose sovereignty has not been ceded to Greece by international treaties, within the framework of its own agenda.”
On the special meeting’s decisions on relations with Türkiye, which earlier today were slammed by Ankara, Mitsotakis said: “It is clear that the progress of Euro-Turkish relations is also affected by developments in the Cyprus issue, as evidenced by the relevant paragraph in the text of the conclusions.”
As such, they are satisfactory for us, he said.
Türkiye on Thursday criticized the conclusions of this week’s extraordinary European Council meeting, accusing the EU of lacking “strategic vision” in its approach to the country, and decrying the new emphasis on Cyprus.
