Greece eyes lasting peace, friendship with Türkiye: Top diplomat

Greek top diplomat Giorgos Gerapetritis has reiterated that his country's long-term vision stipulates lasting peace and friendship with Türkiye by increasing cooperation in all domains despite tough problems stemming from the Aegean Sea.

"We should be able to build solid friendship bridges without ignoring the historic experiences of the past. My vision is to create a neighborhood between our nations on the basis of a lasting peace and prosperity," Gerapetritis said in an interview with the daily Hürriyet on Nov. 7.

His statements came a day before Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's visit to Athens, where the two ministers will review the preparations for the upcoming high-level cooperation council meeting to be held in Türkiye in early 2025.

Gerapetritis hailed his dialogue and cooperation with Fidan, stressing that thanks to this communication they can prevent crises and other problems in ties.

On a question about Greece's continued armament in the Aegean, Gerapetritis underlined that the Greek people are in fact peace lovers and seek to resolve all problems through diplomacy.

"But, at the same time, we can't ignore security threats," he said, drawing attention to the fact the region is currently observing two wars, one in the north between Russia and Ukraine and the other in the Middle East.

"Under these conditions, it is our responsibility to strengthen our defense and deterrence," he suggested.

One top issue that needs to be raised by the two foreign ministers is how to resolve the ongoing differences over the Aegean Sea. Greece insists that the only problem is delimiting the territorial waters, although Türkiye underlines that there are multiple issues to be addressed, including armament of the islands and...