Gerapetritis to Al Arabiya: ‘We need to learn to live together’ with Turkey
Greece and Turkey are neighbours and need to learn to live together, Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis told Al Arabiya in an interview published on Saturday.
“With Turkey we are neighbouring countries and we share geography, so we need to learn to live together. The truth is that there are strong historical burdens coming from the past and we are now trying to enter a new phase of good neighbourly relations and of course, of more sincere, frank interactions,” he said, according to a transcript of the interview published by the ministry.
Gerapetritis said that Athens’ view is that it is important to be in dialogue with Ankara and have a mutual recognition of each other’s positions. “We do not necessarily share the views in all respects, but what we need to do is to actually discuss among each other… we think step by step, we can progress to a better relationship and I think this better relationship can be functional and sustainable.”
He also said it is important to reactivate the joint statement on migration signed between the European Union and Turkey “in order to improve the ratio of returns.”
Concerning the war between Israel and Hamas, the Greek minister says Athens is concerned about increasing humanitarian aid, and the possibility of a spill-over effect in the region. “So it is a significant concern that we need to contain the hostilities now in the broader region in order to find a sustainable and long lasting solution,” he said.
He reiterated that Greece “clearly supports” the resolutions of the UN Security Council about the two-state solution within the boundaries prior to 1967.
“I think this should be the starting point for any discussion for the post war era,” he said.
