Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias, in an interview in Athens, spoke about the problem of delineating the maritime borders with neighboring countries, and the memorandum signed between Turkey and Libya in this regard, which Greece strongly criticizes. The following are excerpts from this interview:
There is a strong indication that Turkey was quick to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with Libya regarding the demarcation of the maritime borders, because it fears a possible fall of the Fayez al-Sarraj government, and this was also led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to accelerate his actions, such as sending survey ships to South Crete in January, how The Greek response to that?
Turkey is proceeding with measures that do not serve its national interest at all. We are ready to deal with any developments or movements, and Greece will not hesitate to defend its sovereign rights and interests in any way, but within the scope of our constitution and international law.
Do you think that there is a danger of the outbreak of "hot accidents" if Turkey decides to take it to the limit? In such a case, will we have allies or will we be alone?
- Our country is always ready to defend its national sovereignty and interests, however, I do not think that Turkey will act recklessly that would lead to hot accidents, because only Turkey will lose in such a situation, because our well-equipped armed forces guarantee deterrence of any threat, but Although we can do this alone, we will not be alone in this case, so our allies and friends in Europe and abroad will be on our side, because the law stands on our side, and as we all know, Turkey has become more isolated than ever, due to the diplomatic campaign we are organizing.
You have met the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, do you think that he will agree to your request and will not publish the Turkish-Libyan memo in the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea?
During my last meeting with him in Geneva, Mr. Guterres carefully listened to our positions, and informed me that the case would be referred to the United Nations legal authorities so that he could know its opinion on this issue.
Many people believe that it is time for Greece to change its cautious stance and submit the coordinates of its maritime areas to the United Nations. Do you consider such a possibility?
Our country took measures in this direction in 2011, and we are now negotiating with our neighboring countries to draw our maritime borders by consensus, on the basis of the law of the sea. As a factor of stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean region, Greece will seek to define maritime ranges with its neighboring countries, and of course we will never give up our legal rights enshrined in international law.
Are you discussing the possibility of demarcating our maritime borders with Egypt and Crete, a move that would completely nullify the memorandum of Turkey and Libya, which is null and void in any way?
- We have been in talks with Egypt for some time, to define the marine areas between us, and during my recent visit to Cairo, my Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, agreed to intensify the talks so that we can reach an agreement acceptable to both parties soon in this regard.
- The procedures for demarcating the maritime borders with Italy are moving forward, in which case are you considering the possibility of extending our territorial waters area by 12 nautical miles within Ionia, or will the borders be set on the basis of six miles?
Indeed, we are in the midst of fruitful talks with Italy. It has already been decided that teams from the Greek and Italian Ministries of Foreign Affairs will meet in the coming days, and we will work towards defining the maritime areas with Italy. Moreover, we must complete our talks before we discuss anything else. In any case, our clear goal is to move forward in Delineation of the borders of marine areas with our neighboring countries as soon as possible.
- Former foreign ministers, such as Evangelos Venizelos and Dora Bakoyannis, have raised the issue of asylum at the International Court in The Hague. Do you think about this? Do you think the time is right? Even if Turkey agreed, wouldn't this have a heavy political cost?
I have repeatedly stated that the political cost does not determine our policy, and our policy is determined by our national interests and rights. We move on this basis, and of course we study all the available options.
We have been in talks with Egypt for some time to define the marine areas between us, so that we can reach an agreement acceptable to both parties soon in this regard.