George Gerapetritis

After the naval incident in the southeastern Aegean, where a flotilla of Turkish ships gathered near two Greek islands, Kassos and Karpathos, claiming that a research ship had violated its continental shelf, Turkey insists that it was the one that gave the ship permission to conclude its research and depart, implying that the Greek navigational warning that described the research ship's mission

The Turkish National Security Council (NSC) convened on Thursday under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and reaffirmed Ankara's stance on the Aegean and Cyprus issues.

According to the NSC's statement, while Turkey remains open to dialogue on matters related to the Aegean and the Mediterranean, it will persist in defending its rights and interests.

Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, in an interview with Real FM on Thursday, refuted the Turkish claim that Athens has accepted Turkey's expansionist demands in the southern Aegean following this week's incident.

The intensity of the diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions between Greece and Turkey over the past few days attests to the seriousness of the incident.

The joint appearance of Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO Summit in Washington today offers an opportunity for another meeting between the two leaders.

The meeting, expected to be brief, was not originally on the leaders’ agendas due to their busy schedules. The primary focus will be to review recent developments in Greek-Turkish relations.

Underscoring Athens' unwavering stance, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said on Tuesday that Greece's objections to Albania and North Macedonia are not bilateral in nature, but touch on the European acquis.

Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis discussed relations with Turkey at the 28th Annual Economist Government Roundtable on Tuesday, highlighting the need for a continuous Greek-Turkish dialogue. 

Greek Foreign Affairs Minister George Gerapetritis is due to meet with the US senator for New Jersey, Cory Booker, at 12 noon on Tuesday.

Booker is a member of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, among other committees.
The meeting was originally scheduled for 11 a.m.

Gerapetritis was in Luxembourg on Monday for the EU's Foreign Affairs Council meeting. [AMNA]

Greece's foreign minister said on Monday that threats by Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah against Cyprus were unacceptable and the European Union would stand by member-states against all such threats.