Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias during a media interview on Thursday that the country’s territorial rights are not negotiable, adding that Turkey must understand there is an international framework and that it needs to respect international law and international treaties, the Greek City Times news blog reported.
Regarding a reference to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a three-day discussion on the government’s policy platform, Dendias said the prime minister had “extended an olive branch” to Turkey but that this went hand-in-hand with the self-evident necessity to absolutely respect international law and international treaties.
“It is not a dialogue with Turkey starting from scratch because we are not talking about uncharted waters, there is an international framework. And within this international framework, we can, of course, talk with our Turkish neighbors,” he added.
“Upholding international law and international treaties has always had huge importance for us. In this context, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as president of the government, addressed the head of the Turkish state,” he said.
It remained to be seen how Turkey had understood this invitation, he added, while clarifying that no meeting with his Turkish counterpart was being prepared at this time.