Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis reiterated that the sole difference between Greece and Turkey was the demarcation of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the continental shelf during a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Luxembourg on Monday at the EU Foreign Affairs Council Summit.
The two men discussed matters pertaining to bilateral relations while also touching on the recent regional developments in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
Gerapetritis made it clear that issues of sovereignty are not up for discussion.
The ministers of Greece and Turkey exchanged views on the significance of maintaining the ceasefire and fully implementing the first phase of the peace plan for Gaza in the interest of regional stability.
The Greek Foreign Minister also outlined the country’s position on the European defense industry (SAFE) and its commitment to building a stronger, more resilient, and strategically autonomous Europe.
Gerapetritis informed his Turkish counterpart of the Greek proposal for a meeting between five coastal states of the region, a 5×5 multilateral format, stressing that establishing such a cooperative framework would be valuable amid major global geopolitical shifts.
The two ministers discussed recent developments in the occupied territories and the upcoming informal expanded meeting on the Cyprus issue, expected to take place by the end of 2025. In this context, the Greek minister underlined that the election of Tufan Erhurman as the new leader of the Turkish Cypriots opens a new chapter of hope and expectation for the reunification of Cyprus, in line with United Nations Security Council resolutions.
