The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Gerapetritis, met today, Monday, October 20, with the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan, on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg.

According to diplomatic sources, the two ministers discussed bilateral relations as well as recent regional and international developments, focusing on exchanging views on the situation in the Middle East and the importance of maintaining the ceasefire and fully implementing the first phase of the peace plan for Gaza, for the sake of regional stability.

Diplomatic sources further note that the Foreign Minister informed his counterpart of Greece’s position regarding the European defense industry and its commitment to building a stronger, more resilient, and strategically autonomous Europe. In addition, Mr. Gerapetritis reiterated that the delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone and the continental shelf is the sole difference between Greece and Turkey, while issues of sovereignty are off the table.

On the meeting of the five coastal countries and the election of Erhurman

The same sources note that the two ministers also referred to the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean. Mr. Gerapetritis informed his Turkish counterpart about the Greek proposal for a meeting of five coastal states in the region, within a 5×5 multilateral framework, emphasizing that establishing such a cooperative mechanism would be useful given the major geopolitical shifts occurring worldwide.

The two ministers also discussed the latest developments in the occupied areas and the upcoming informal expanded meeting on the Cyprus issue, expected to take place by the end of 2025. In this context, Mr. Gerapetritis underlined that the election of Tufan Erhurman as the new leader of the Turkish Cypriots opens a new chapter of hope and expectation for the reunification of the island, based on the United Nations Security Council Resolutions.