Athens
, 9 May 2011
The following are highlights from Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas’s 9 May interview on Vima FM, with journalists V. Chiotis and N. Papadopoulos:
[on the exclusive economic zone (EEZ)]
· “Greece has not relinquished any of its sovereign rights and there is no danger of its abandoning any of its sovereign rights. Nor is it accurate to say that Greece, the Greek government does not want to delimit an exclusive economic zone. In fact – and we have said this repeatedly – the government has a clear plan and objective of delimiting all the maritime zones with all of our neighbours.”
· “As concerns Turkey, it is a well known fact that what we have been discussing with Turkey for years now is the issue of the delimitation of the continental shelf. We see a Turkish government, a Turkish Prime Minister, that is sending us messages that give us cause to hope that maybe – I say maybe, not that it is definitely going to happen – that maybe at some point we will get there through this process.”
· “Now, why are we emphasizing the continental shelf rather than talking about an EEZ? Because the continental shelf is what gives us, what gives Greece, what we need right now. That is why we are focussing our attention on this. When we talk about our mineral wealth, which we want to exploit, you don’t need to delimit the EEZ. Exploitation of mineral wealth has to do with the continental shelf.”
[on Greek-Turkish relations]
· “Turkey is holding elections in a few weeks. These elections have great significance for us, because if the new Turkish leadership that is elected is strengthened and can then implement some things that we are hearing, this gives us the hope that we can move ahead.”
· “I have said that we want the positive words we have heard from Mr. Erdogan to be put into action. And the Turkish elections and the results of the Turkish elections will certainly be something of a milestone.”
· “Beyond that, we will see whether Turkey is credible and we can continue with this policy. If not, have no doubt that Greece is prepared for any and every eventuality, including, if need be, a change in its policy on Turkey.”