«Greek Government She has always been and today predominantly as first national priority the Cyprus“, The Foreign Minister stressed, George Gerapetritisspeaking to Cosmos FM homogeneous radio station at New York.In particular, he said that “our national consciousness imposes us that in every occasion we will invest the greatest effort of anything else in proceeding with the effort to reunite the island, in the context of the decisions and resolutions of the United Nations Security Council”.
Gerapetritis referring to talks on the Cyprus issue under the auspices of UN He expressed his optimism, while at the same time stressing that it was unthinkable in today’s age, that there are so many challenges, so many armed conflicts, so many divisions, Cyprus to remain divided.
He noted that it is extremely important that “at the moment we have a planning, a timetable for the next steps and that there is a list of confidence -building measures that are absolutely necessary, so that we can move on to the next step.”
He pointed out that a great effort was made on behalf of Secretary -general In order for these discussions to go steadily and it was found that in four of the six chapters that our country had set as first measures in Geneva in March, there were positive news.
“So at a satisfactory percentage I think steps have been taken. The list of these positive measures were added 4 more chapters and it was agreed first for the two leaders to be here in New York, at the United Nations General Assembly next September, under the Secretary -General, and then, by the end of the year, the last quarter of the year.
Libya
About developments with the Libya He said the issues were now raised because of the initiative, which the Greek government took over by publicizing one Marine spatial planning“Who occupied the potential Greek continental shelf, throughout the continental shelf and the Greek exclusive economic zone.
So, a great deal of demarcation by Greece, which is now part of the European acquis, because it has been notified to the European Commission. ” And the second, as the Foreign Minister said was “that we declared plots to exploitation, which are within this Economic zoneafter interest, expressed by an American colossus, Chevron. “
Clarified that the contracts given by Libyans do not violate Greek shelf and the Greek exclusive economic zone.
«Libyans, that is, seem to have respected the midlineas the Greek state perceives it. This is extremely important, because anyone can have a perception, which can be maximal for the potential continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.
But everything is judged in the field. And Libya, the contracts it has made, are within its own exclusive economic zone based on the perception of Greece. So below the midline, south of the middle line, as we understand it. So we have no violation, “he said.
Characterized invalid and non -existent the Turkish -tired Memorandum because it came from a non -legalized governmentbut also because this was concluded between two countries, which do not have any coasts between them, are not neighboring.
“So in any court, in any forum, at no beginning can this memorandum stand,” he said and called on Libya to come to the basis of international law, to have a technical debate with Greece on the delimitation.
Referring to his visit to Libya, he pointed out that the discussions, which were about the boundaries and the immigration, were successful.
As for the government’s decision to suspend the Application for asylum for three months He said that this has a single purpose:
“To give a very powerful message, primarily to the traffickers, that it makes no sense to come to Crete. This is because asylum applications will not be processed. Has a very important message.
On the other hand, it has a transitional character. It is for three months, so that we can establish a relationship with Libya in this quarter and through cooperation and the Coast Guard to be able to reset these flows. “
Greek -Turkish
Referring to Greek -Turkish Gerapetritis said, among other things, that a better relationship with Turkeywhich will be more functional, and it is to prevent tensions in order not to become crises.
“In this context, we started a debate that was structured. I think for the first time we built a discussion, which is based on specific pillars, in Political dialoguein Confidence -building measuresto Positive agendawhere each pillar had one owner so we can discuss it.
These discussions were not easy. Obviously, as you say right, the historical burdens of the past always throw a shadow in these relationships.
But what we said, is that Without diverging from our positions, without any concession to our national rights, our national positions, we will try to have a relationship that will allow us not to have at least the problems of the past“Said Gerapetritis, while adding that the violations of National Airplane in relation to the past, and the migratory flows have been minimized.
“I think if we are assessing overall in the last two years I would say they have been done Small steps toward regularity, to mutual understanding. The most important thing, however, is that these steps have been taken without any concession to our own national rights“, Stressed Gerapetritis.