Apostolakis announces Greek-Turkish CBMs agreement for 2019-2020

By George Gilson

With Ankara ratcheting up tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean and Turkish leaders and opposition figures (such as ultra-nationalist MHP leader Devlet Bahceli) fanning the flames with nationalist rhetoric, Defence Minister Evangelos Apostolakis today announced that there has been a Greek-Turkish agreement in military-to-military talks on a series of confidence-building measures (CBMs) to be implemented in 2019-2020 by the next government.

Apostolakis said that the actions agreed to are in the context of existing CBMs, but he offered no details.

"It would be well in the future for both sides to agree to implementation of these actions," he underlined, noting that he cannot commit the next government to anything.

Apostolakis defended the decision to dialogue with Turkey despite - or especially because of - heightened tensions even as he declared Greece's resolve in defending its sovereign rights.

"We seek peace and security but under no circumstances will we back off from defending our sovereign rights. We wish to avoid tensions," Apostolakis said after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar on the sidelines of a Nato defence ministers' meeting in Brussels.

Both Apostolakis and Akar served as their country's Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff immediately before being appointed as defence minister and in that capacity they have had extensive contacts, have handled crisis (such as the capture of two Greek army officers at the Evros border region) and are quite familiar with each other's thinking.

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