NEW — Greece's former President Pavlopoulos:
“The Aegean belongs 75% to Greece. Turkey only has rights over a maximum of 25% of the Aegean. Equal sharing is not possible.”
“When we look at territorial waters, 43.5% of the Aegean is in Greece, while Turkey holds only 7.5%.”
“If Greece exercises its legal right to extend its territorial waters to 12 miles, then our share rises to 71.5%.”
“This also shows how utterly absurd Turkey's threat of war is from the perspective of International and European Law.”
“Turkey wants to take complete control of Cyprus.”
“If Turkey wants to have a place in the new architecture of the Eastern Mediterranean, it must understand that the occupation of Cyprus cannot continue.”
“Greece should continue to apply pressure in order not to miss historic opportunities.”
“Turkey is also trying to create conditions for the so-called Turkish minority in Western Thrace to gain independence in the future.”
“This is contrary to the Lausanne Treaty; the people there are recognized only as a Muslim minority, not as an ethnic Turkish minority.”
“Turkey's occupation of Cyprus has become a role model for Putin's revisionism.”
“Putin thought that the occupation in Cyprus went without consequences and therefore invading Ukraine would also go without consequences.”
“We must take firm stances on Cyprus and there should be no bargaining; a federal state and the withdrawal of occupation forces, the removal of third parties' guarantorship.”
“The illegal settlers placed in Cyprus by Turkey must gradually leave the territory of the Republic of Cyprus.”
“In no way, openly or covertly, should a two-state solution be allowed or tolerated; such a solution would only serve Turkey's fragmentation of Cyprus.”
“Hellenism has much more economic and military power than before to defend these positions.”
“Cyprus must return to the state it was in before the provocative and illegal Turkish occupation.”
Literally a declaration of war but this is how former politicians usually talk. The question is, how much of what he said is actually mainstream among the Greek decision-makers?
en.apa.az
US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack is due to arrive in Israel next week.
