Mitsotakis: Greece is preparing its next steps in face of Turkish aggression

In his address to the MPs on the recent developments and his meeting with Turkish President Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in London, the PM said Turkey had fell into unprecedented diplomatic isolation, stressing that its bellicose actions in the Mediterranean had expanded from its illegal claims in the Cypriot EEZ to other parts of the Sea.

“The United States, Russia, the EU, Egypt and Israel have condemned Turkey’s stance in a matter of two days. Even in the context of NATO, which has always maintained an unbiased perspective in our differences with Turkey, the powerful countries have criticised Turkey’s position, first of all Mr Macron, who has placed a bulwark on the aggressiveness of our neighbours at every turn.”

“We are also preparing for our next steps. They may have approved a paper in the Turkish Parliament yesterday, but this paper will not be recognised and will collapse. Not only because it is illegal but because there is no legitimate counter-party to ratify it in Libya. We will do everything in our power to prevent this agreement from coming into force,” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Regarding the issue of immigration and Turkey’s actions, the prime minister said he had told Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey did not comply with its obligations under the joint declaration with the EU.

The Greek Pm stressed that the visit of the head of the Libyan Parliament to Athens next week was a positive development.

Meanwhile, the Greek Foreign Affairs Minister, Nikos Dendias issued a statement earlier on Friday dubbing the Turkish-Libyan accord a gross violation of the International Law of the Sea and the sovereign rights of Greece and other states.