Greece ready to ‘extend hand of friendship’ to Turkey: Mitsotakis

The Greek prime minister accuses Turkey’s president of whipping up the anti-Greek sentiment in his country.

Greece's prime minister
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (right) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hold a press conference following their meeting in Athens [Aris Messinis/AFP]

Greece is ready to “extend a hand of friendship” to Turkey, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis says while also accusing Turkey’s president of whipping up anti-Greek sentiment at home.

Tensions have escalated between the two NATO allies, which are divided over a series of issues and have come to the brink of war three times in the last 50 years.

“My wish is that, even with delay, our neighbours will choose the road of de-escalation, of legality, of peaceful coexistence without rhetorical outbursts but with constructive actions,” Mitsotakis said on Thursday after meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Athens.

“On my side, they will always find me ready to extend a hand of friendship. We don’t have any room for further needless sources of tension,” Mitsotakis said, adding that differences must be resolved peacefully.

“That is what our people want, that is what the Greek people want, that is what the Turkish people want, that is what all of Europe wants.”

Military presence

Disputes between Greece and Turkey include sea boundaries in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean that affect energy exploration rights.

Turkey has also blasted Greece for maintaining a military presence on eastern Greek islands that it says violate international treaties.

Greece says that it faces a direct threat from Turkey, which has a significant military presence on the Turkish coast opposite the islands and has reacted with horror to statements from Turkish officials implying the sovereignty of some inhabited Greek islands could be disputed.

“It should not be that NATO partners question each other’s sovereignty,” Scholz said in a brief joint press conference with Mitsotakis after their meeting. “All issues must be resolved through dialogue and on the basis of international law. And we are very much in agreement on that.”

Mitsotakis said it was “truly a shame” that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “can’t see that he is walking into a dead end when he poisons his people with lies against Greece. Because our neighbours and all our allies know that the Greek islands do not threaten anyone”.

The German chancellor said it was “in the interest of all neighbours” to exploit the economic potential of the Mediterranean “for the benefit of their respective populations. I got the impression in my conversation that Greece is very willing to do this. And we can and should have confidence in that”.

Source: AP

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