Greek PM dismayed over ‘Turkaegean’ decision
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his dismay on Thursday over the decision of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to approve Turkey’s request to use the term “Turkaegean” for commercial purposes, with effect until July 2031.
Briefing journalists after the end of the NATO Summit in Madrid, Mitsotakis said that “obviously the government will exhaust our legal possibilities to deal with this development.”
He added that “obviously there are responsibilities” because there wasn’t a timely reaction.
“I want to be very clear: Some people within the administration, quite simply, did not do their job well,” he said, while expressing confidence that “we have a legal arsenal at our disposal to correct what happened.”
For his part, Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis apologized for his ministry’s failure to react in a more timely manner.
“I will do everything to prevent it,” he said in comments to state radio ERT. Turkey also applied for the trademark in the United States, but was turned down, provisionally.
Meanwhile, European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas has sent a letter to Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, demanding a review of a decision to approve Ankara’s request to trademark the term “Turkaegean.”
