Greek FM: Our policy on Turkey is responsible, not a product of weakness

For Greece’s relations with Turkey, the best course of action was to keep channels of communication open and talk about any problems between the two countries, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias noted on Friday in statements to the Greek radio station ‘Alpha’.

“The best thing we can do is to talk, to talk sternly…We are exercising a policy that is responsible, a policy that is not a product of weakness but a product of responsibility,” he told the radio station, a few days ahead of a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Athens.

In a phone interview with the radio station from Seoul, where he is currently on an official visit, Kotzias stressed that he opposed a policy of isolationism with regard to the problems with Turkey, especially in an era of open horizons and globalisation.

He also added that a sharp drop in the number of Turkish violations in the Aegean in the 25 days following his own visit to Turkey, with the exception of two days.

“I have spoken with Turkey’s president several times. He has stated his views and I have replied, in a stern and diplomatic manner, on the opinions he expresses on which we disagree,” the minister underlined.

According to him, it was a good thing that one million Turks had come to Greece on holiday and to establish rail and other connections between Thessaloniki and Turkish cities would benefit Greece, “linking us to the vast market that begins in Turkey”.

Asked about the possibility of Erdogan visiting Thrace, where there is a large Muslim community, Kotzias emphasized that the Turkish president clearly wanted to make such a visit but that this must be done in a way that did not undermine relations with Greece or Turkey’s image in Europe.

“If he goes and provided that it is agreed that he goes, he must go in a way – as I explained to him in person – that does not harm relations between Greece and Turkey, because the trip must benefit these relations. It must not harm Turkey’s image in Europe but the behaviour and agreements must be such that it improves his own image in Europe,” Kotzias underlined, expressing hope that Erdogan “will make the right choice.”