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Without turbulence from the results of the Turkish municipal elections but under the “shadow” of the Cyprus problem, diplomatic processes for the preparation of the meeting between Mitsotakis and Erdogan in the first half of May in Ankara continue.
The Foreign Ministers of the two countries C. Gerapetritis and H. Fidan met for almost an hour in Brussels on Wednesday afternoon on the sidelines of the difficult NATO Ministers’ Meeting on the preparation of the solemn July summit on the 75th anniversary of the Alliance, where the major challenge for the Atlantic Alliance, the war in Ukraine, dominated.
According to reports, the meeting between Gerapetritis and Fidan took place in a good atmosphere and the impression gained by the Greek side is that despite the negative results of the municipal elections, the process of rapprochement between the two countries is not affected for the time being.
The two foreign ministers who have been entrusted with the task of monitoring and supervising all the parallel processes of rapprochement (Political Dialogue, Positive Agenda) reviewed the process and examined the roadmap until the meeting of the two leaders in Ankara.
On the table were outstanding issues related to what was agreed at the Athens meeting , while agreements such as the one on facilitating the issuance of visas for Turks visiting the Greek islands , the measure has already been implemented in five islands and will be implemented in the remaining five islands by the end of April.
In the meeting, according to reports, the two ministers did not “touch” the major issue of the dispute over the delimitation of the continental shelf but agreed on the need to have a new appointment before the Ankara meeting.
Mr. Gerapetritis and Mr. Fidan also discussed developments on the Cyprus question, as the effort to resume talks is at a critical juncture.
Turkish Cypriot leader E.Tatar on Friday will meet with UN Secretary General António Guterres while his special envoy A.Olgin-Kueyar will have contacts with Ankara, Nicosia, E.Tatar but also with the Americans and the EU.
The Greek Foreign Minister who met with President N.Christodoulides and his counterpart K.Kombo in Nicosia on Tuesday evening also conveyed to his Turkish counterpart the need for the two sides to sit at the table for talks.
The obstacle to this is of course the inflexible and rigid attitude of the Turkish side with E.Tatar insisting on the recognition of sovereign equality and equal international status as a precondition for their participation in talks, which is essentially equivalent to a two-state solution.
And this he demands as a precondition for the start of talks that are supposed to seek a federal solution based on the UNSC resolutions.
Athens believes that a goodwill gesture on the part of Cyprus might be able to break this intransigent attitude of the Turkish Cypriot leader and Christodoulides himself is willing to exhaust every possibility in order to resume the talks.But this is a very difficult balancing exercise and Athens and Nicosia agree on this.
As the gesture of goodwill should not concern issues that touch the substance and the core of the Cyprus problem.
E.Tatar himself has conveyed to his interlocutors that he wants sovereign equality , free trade , the legalization of the Ercan airport etc. , but issues that cannot be accepted by Nicosia.
Mr. Gerapetritis has taken on a special role as he talks with all sides , Nicosia , Ankara , the UN Secretary General and his special envoy.
Making progress on this issue will also facilitate the difficult negotiations that will take place at the EU Summit in Brussels on April 17-18, where the Conclusions will include a reference to Turkey, but the text has not yet been agreed as Cyprus rightly does not accept that the positive messages on Euro-Turkish issues should not be linked with corresponding references to Turkey’s obligations towards the Republic of Cyprus.
At the meeting between Gerapetritis and Fiddan, discussions in NATO on Ukraine were also on the table.
In many member countries, including Greece, there is scepticism about the proposals for the direct involvement of NATO by taking over the coordination of issues such as the training of the Ukrainian army and the sending of material, issues that create problems within the EU as well.
While there is also concern about the 100 billion dollar fund as estimates are that it is impossible to secure these amounts.
