Greek FM in UAE: Turkey can only hurt itself from its behavior

"I had a very interesting, extensive conversation today and an exchange of views with the UAE Foreign Minister. I must say that this is our third meeting in a few months. The subject of the discussion was the analysis of the impact of the two memorandums signed by the government of Tripoli and Turkey. I am very pleased to find that the United Arab Emirates shares our concerns," Mr Dendias said after the meeting.

Highlighting the role of the United Arab Emirates, Mr Dendias stressed that it is an important player, not only in the Gulf region, but also in our wider region, as well as within the Arab world and added: "That is why they are very important and their views matter, and we agreed to continue to exchange views and coordinate our actions."

Asked about the threat posed by Ankara not only to implement, but to speed up the implementation of the two memoranda, Mr Dendias responded that Turkey has lately become accustomed to launching threats and said: "I must say that in reality it only threatens itself, because with threats and behaviors you are proving to the international community what we would like to avoid, that is to say, Turkey being the [cause of] unrest in the region. "

Continuing on the same wavelength, he expressed the belief that Turkey would make a major mistake if it thought that this behavior could bring benefits to it and noted conclusively that it has followed a path that does not lead to a happy outcome.

After the meeting, the two foreign ministers signed a memorandum of understanding on Greece-UAE co-operation in the field of diplomatic education. The next and final stop on Nikos Dendia's diplomatic tour of the region will be Jordan tomorrow.