Greece won’t start a dialogue with Turkey through blackmail, Panagiotopoulos says

File Photo: Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos. ANA – MPA/DM’s Press office,




Greece is not going to start a dialogue with Turkey if it does not change its provocative behavior, Defence Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos said late on Monday in an interview with Alpha TV.

“All I am saying – what the Greek government is saying – is that you cannot be called to start a dialogue in conditions of blackmail or of direct questioning of the country’s sovereign rights. We do not want such a dialogue,” he explained.

“If [Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglou] considers that this is the way to invite the other to dialogue, we find it a strange and although we really believe that the channels of communication should indeed remain open, this dialogue should not be [the result of] blackmail. In other words, lets discuss what we demand and what you should probably give us. I’m sorry, but things are not like that. Thanks,” said Panagiotopoulos.

“Greece insists on complying with the rules of international law, while Turkey operates as a troublemaker or bully in the region,” Panagiotopoulos said, adding: “We have said that we want dialogue, we want dialogue but not on these terms.”

He also underlined that if Turkey proceeds, as it has announced, with exploratory drilling in the sea south of Crete, this will mean a violation of Greece’s sovereign rights and will not be tolerated.

Source: ANA-MPA

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