Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis accused Turkey of nurturing neo-Ottoman fantasies of empire with its continuing aggression and threats of war against Greece and Cyprus, noting that it must realise that it cannot continue down this path.
Mitsotakis made the comments during an inteview with German newspaper Handelsblatt on Wednesday.
“We are not the ones who nurture fantasies about empires of bygone times,” noted the Greek premier in his interview, which paid particular emphasis on Greek-Turkish relations. Asked about Athens’ current relations with Ankara, Mitsotakis said he does not seek confrontation with Turkey, and that he is “on speaking terms with President Erdogan.
Greece has every interest in cooperating with Turkey, he added, and is unhappy with Turkey’s current economic crisis, as “it could lead to regional instability.”
Mitsotakis also observed that Greece does want Germany’s support regarding its relations with Turkey, as both countries are part of the European family. Furthermore, Germany “is not a non-involved, neutral, third party,” he pointed out, when it comes to Greek-Turkish relations.
The Greek prime minister also expressed his view that the provisions of the EU’s Stability & Growth Pact (SGP) are outdated, and called for a new direction that would gradually reduce national debt even more. “We must maintain the necessary fiscal discipline required for a monetary union to function. At the same time, we have to accept that we are launching [our arguments] from different points and we have to gradually converge,” Mitsotakis pointed out.