Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cyprus Prime Minister Nicos Anastasiades are in “perfect coordination” following a meeting to discuss Turkey’s advancements in Varosha.
Prime Minister Mitsotakis pointed to the UN Security Council’s condemnation against Turkey’s actions following the meeting in Athens on Tuesday evening.
“And how did Turkey react? Not only did it reject this response, it attributed it to propaganda dealt by Greece and Cyprus,” Mitsotakis said.
“Turkey claims Greece and Cyprus have misled the entire world, instead of questioning how its actions have managed to turn the entire world against it”.
Prime Minister Anastasiades says the support of international law is “something Mr. Erdogan must finally accept”.
The pair have maintained their willingness to create the appropriate conditions that will allow the UN Secretary General to reopen negotiations.
“We seek to restart the dialogue, with UN resolutions as our common ground,” Anastasiades says.
The Greek government has also responded to Turkey’s letter to the United Nations regarding the militarisation of the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean Islands with their own letter.
The letter rebuts Turkey’s calls for Greece to demilitarise the islands, in cooperation of the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) and the Treaty of Paris (1947).
“Once again we wish to reiterate that sovereignty over the islands, islets and rocks of the Aegean was ceded to Greece definitively and unconditionally by the above Treaties and any interpretation against the letter or spirit of these fundamental Treaties would amount to an unauthorised attempt to unilaterally review and modify them,” the Greek letter reads.
The letter adds that Turkey’s baseless, in legal terms, attempt to link its allegations of a purported demilitarisation obligation of the Greek islands “to the entitlement itself of these islands to maritime zones confirms attempts to negate Greek islands’ continental shelf and exclusive economic zone (EEZ), contrary to article 121(2) of the UNCLOS, which reflects customary international law, and which explicitly provides for the entitlement of islands to all maritime zones.”
Turkey announced last week that 3.5 per cent of the fenced-off area of Varosha will be demilitarised and opened for resettlement.
Prime Minister Mitsotakis reiterates Greece’s support for Cyprus and its opposition to Turkey’s desires of a two-state solution.
Prime Minister Anastasiades says the ultimate goal is to reach a sustainable and fruitful solution for all legal citizens of Cyprus, “while will allow us [Greek Cypriots] to coexist in peace with our [Turkish Cypriot] compatriots beyond guarantees and dependencies”.
Source: Cyprus Mail, Ekathimerini
