Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday urged restraint in debate over relations with Turkey, saying geography requires them to coexist despite disputes.
“We are destined to live side by side with Turkey,” Mitsotakis told Greece’s OPEN. “The two peoples want good relations. We have differences, but we must not live in a state of permanent tension.”
Mitsotakis said news coverage and maps in both countries had magnified disputes and did not help relations. He denied claims that Athens seeks Ankara’s permission for Greek island links, marine parks, maritime planning, defense or energy exploration.
The prime minister said Greece was not ready to negotiate a settlement on the delimitation of exclusive economic zones and the continental shelf and would not enter talks “from a position of weakness.”
Greece and Turkey, both NATO members, have disputed maritime boundaries, airspace and energy rights in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean for decades. Cyprus also remains in dispute.
Relations improved after the leaders signed the Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good Neighborliness in 2023, but the maritime dispute remains unresolved. Turkey’s parliament has maintained since 1995 that a Greek extension of territorial waters beyond six nautical miles in the Aegean would constitute grounds for war.