“We won’t be bored by Greek-Turkish relations in the coming period.” The assessment by an experienced diplomat and senior Foreign Ministry official suggests that Athens does not view the developments of the past two weeks, marked by Turkey’s repeated revival of its claims in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, as an isolated or temporary outburst. Rather, they are seen as a broader return by Ankara to its revisionist agenda, which is expected to take other forms in the period ahead.
In the coming days, the initiative will be in Athens’ hands as Greece moves ahead with its diplomatic response to the marine parks Turkey established through two presidential decrees signed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Greece sent its protest demarche to Ankara on Friday. The delay was due to a point-by-point analysis of the two decrees by the Foreign Ministry’s legal service. According to a source familiar with the matter, the decrees contain numerous provisions that violate international law and therefore required detailed assessment, as well as an examination of the geographic coordinates defining the areas depicted on the maps.
On Tuesday evening and Wednesday, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis will meet with his EU counterparts at the informal Gymnich meeting in Wicklow, Ireland. As he has already indicated, he is expected to raise the issue of Turkish provocations and Ankara’s alleged violations of international law.
