Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel had a telephone conversation on Thursday afternoon. The EU-Turkey agreement and developments of talks on the Cypriot dispute were on the agenda, in light of the recent escalation of Turkish provocation.
During their talk, the Greek PM underlined the importance of maintaining the EU-Turkey agreement on refugees, while stressing his concern over the last statements by Turkish officials. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the provocative statements by President Erdogan and his ministers, which have even disputed the Treaty of Lausanne.
In relation to the Cypriot dispute, the Greek Prime Minister informed the German Chancellor that Greece is in favor of resuming talks and meeting with Erdogan to discuss the critical issue of guarantees. Greece has consistently objected to the guarantees and has underlined that the Turkish occupation forces must leave from the northern section of the island.
The ongoing negotiations for the second bailout review were not discussed at all, despite Monday’s critical Eurogroup, indicating the importance of the recent developments in the region. The Greek government explained that this was on purpose, given that talks are still going on.
