The High-Level Cooperation Council between Greece and Turkiye is an established meeting of the two leaders held at regular intervals, foreign ministry spokesperson Lana Zochiou said on Tuesday, referring to the upcoming meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday.
“The important thing is that dialogue is taking place and this benefits everyone. The HLCC sends out a signal of normality,” she said.
“The aim of the HLCC is to assess the progress in bilateral cooperation, two years after the Declaration of Athens. To keep channels of communication open to defuse potential crises, to express the common conviction for a discussion of bilateral issues and, of course, to carry out an assessment of structured Greek-Turkish dialogue and the functional relationship between Greece and Turkiye,” Zochiou added.
The spokesperson said the right conditions for a discussion of maritime zones did not exist at this time, adding that Greece exercises an “active foreign policy based on the principles of international law” and actively strives for peace and good neighbourly relations.
She said that the issues that will be discussed at the meeting include bilateral relations and matters of regional and international interest. This will include migration, issues of cooperation in civil defence, the economy and trade, the fight against organised crime and cooperation in culture.
With respect to international affairs, she said this will focus mainly on the Middle East, Iran and developments in Ukraine.
Zochiou announced that the delegation accompanying the prime minister will include Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, National Economy and Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos, Education, Religions and Sports Minister Sofia Zacharaki, Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris, Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis, Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Yiannis Kefalogiannis, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Christos Dimas and Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Haris Theoharis.
She noted that National Defence Minister Nikos Dendias will be in Brussels for a defence ministers’ meeting during the visit, as will his Turkish counterpart, while Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandra Papadopoulou cannot join the mission as she is still in hospital with the flu.
Zochiou also commented on a Turkish Navtex and Notam, saying that Greece rejects them as illegal and unfounded and revealed that Greece is planning to soon lodge a demarche with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) over Turkiye’s Navtex. She also noted that these once again repeat Turkiye’s claims and “do not affect us or create faites accomplis”.
Regarding the invitation extended to Greece to join the Board of Peace set up by U.S. President Donald Trump, she noted that Greece, as a member of the UN Security Council, operates within the framework of UNSCR 2803, which it voted in favour of. This stipulates that the Board of Peace is a temporary body aimed exclusively at peace in Gaza, “therefore, the discrepancy between the Charter of the Board of Peace and Resolution 2803 raised concerns, and for this reason Greece did not co-sign it.”
She noted that this was also one of the issues discussed by Foreign Minister Gerapetritis with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during their telephone conversation.
“ At the end of last week, Greece received an invitation from the United States to participate in the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace, which will take place on February 19 in Washington. Our position is being assessed in cooperation with partners and allies. We will respond promptly,” she emphasised.
The Strategic Dialogue was also discussed, with the American Secretary of State expressing his intention to visit Greece as soon as possible. “ Naturally, we here understand the objective difficulties created by Mr. Rubio’s increased responsibilities,” she noted.
source ANA-MPA