At 1 pm the Mitsotaki-Erdogan four in Istanbul. The agenda of the discussion of the two leaders

Of Dimitriou Gatsiou

The diplomatic and geopolitical eyes of Athens are being transferred to the winter from the snow and the low temperatures of Istanbul. At two in the afternoon local, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet for the fourth time in three years. And this time, the dramatic developments on the Ukrainian front, with the invasion of Russia, will form the dominant scene of the discussion of the two leaders, in the presidential residence located on the Asian side of the city.

A few hours before the fourth meeting of Mr. Mitsotakis and Mr. Erdogan, Athens’s assessment is that in the current conditions, this meeting acquires special utility. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has dramatically changed security in Europe. At the same time, however, it has sustained the unequivocal condemnation of the international community to all forms of expansionism and revisionism.

According to government officials, in the current security landscape, Greece and Turkey have a special responsibility for stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and the southeastern wing of NATO. And this is expected to be one of the messages that the prime minister will convey at the luncheon meeting with the president’s neighbor. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as he has noted in the interventions of recent days, is heading to the meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, having realistic and measured expectations. Disagreements with Turkey, of course, are not expected to be overcome. The Turkish objections to a number of issues are well known anyway, which Athens rejects and refutes at all levels and at every opportunity. As the Greek positions are known. But, as government officials say, just because we disagree does not mean we should not talk. The channels of communication must remain open at all levels and the volume must be de-escalated.

“I believe that this meeting is imperative. And it is imperative because at the moment we are facing, all the countries of the region, all the countries of the world, Europe, the eastern Mediterranean, a very big geopolitical challenge. Greece and Turkey are two “We are essentially the pillars of NATO’s southeast wing. And when there are such great geopolitical challenges, it makes sense to talk and see how we can not add more hotbeds of turmoil and geopolitical uncertainty to an already heavily charged European landscape.” noted, a few hours before the fourth quarter with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “I believe that this will be a debate that I hope will take place in a good atmosphere. From there on, Greece is coming to these debates with the certainty that it has International Law on its side and we have a substantiated answer to any argument that can be put forward by On the other hand, I consider it a positive fact that on the occasion of my visit to the Patriarchate, which was scheduled for Orthodoxy Day, and perhaps on the occasion of the statement I made in Parliament, that I would view a meeting with President Erdoğan, there has been this invitation to this meal, and sometimes these meals can be a little more – I will not say loosely – with a less strict and formal protocol.As I have said many times, Greece and Turkey need to talk. “Our window is always open to dialogue. Our door is closed to any challenge and any challenge to sovereignty and sovereign rights,” he said.

The menu of the discussions of the two leaders (will take place in the presence of only their translators) includes the developments on the regional front, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but also the security architecture in the Eastern Mediterranean region. As expected, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also raise bilateral issues, with the prime minister ready to respond to any aspect of the issues if the neighbor’s president attempts to put forward a revised agenda. “Greece is going to this meeting with great confidence for three main reasons. First, because in the last two years, our geopolitical and geostrategic footprint has been greatly strengthened. Second, because the country’s positions are identical with the International And thirdly, because this meeting takes place at a time in the shadow of what is happening dramatically in Ukraine, but with the whole world in a very clear and unequivocal way condemning any form of revisionism, any form of expansionism, against anything “catalyzes international legitimacy,” said (Sky) the government spokesman, Giannis Oikonomou.