Minister for Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias sent a clear message to Turkey following a meeting with his Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides, in Athens stressing it was time Turkey understood that its behaviour in the region was counterproductive and resulted in its gradual isolation and condemnation from the international community.

In joint statements following their meeting and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for Political Consultations and Technical Cooperation between the two Foreign Ministers, Mr. Dendias pointed out that Greece wanted a prosperous Turkey capable of adhering to the European political and democratic acquis, reiterating, however, his regret it had effectively nullified its pledges to this end by its actions.

The two Ministers had an extensive discussion about Turkey’s illegal and provocative actions in the Eastern Mediterranean region, which are no longer confined to the Aegean Sea and the maritime zones of the Republic of Cyprus, but leave their imprint on Iraq and now Libya.

Mr. Dendias said the recent signing of a Memo of Understanding on maritime delimitation between Turkey and Libya was a flagrant violation of international law, while it produced no legal results as it was totally unfounded and void.

For his part, Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides noted the significance of the meeting with his Greek counterpart underlining the “that the subsequent moves of the two countries are more coordinated, more targeted and more effective”, in the midst of the intense challenges of uncertainty, instability, and doubting of traditional and well-established principles and values of the international system.