The Greek side has been engaged in a barrage of diplomatic contacts in view of the European Council on December 10th and 11th, which will focus on the Turkish provocation in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Today, the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, visited Cyprus. In his meeting with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Anastasiades, he referred to the harsh attitude of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo towards his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, at the NATO Summit.
As reported by skai.gr, Dendias revealed the background of the Summit and described how in a completely calm tone Pompeo set against Turkey and forced Çavuşoğlu to change his plans and his speech in order to retaliate.
“It was amazing. Unbelievable. Because it was not a rage. It was a text, read in a calm tone, with a perfectly clear line of reasoning. The other side was taken aback. He did not expect it. He left the text and started answering without it”, the Greek Foreign Minister stated characteristically.
Meanwhile, Dendias and his Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulidis, collaborated in order for Greece and Cyprus to come to the Summit with a common line. The Greek minister stressed that the common denominator in the region is the illegal Turkish provocative behavior. As he said, on the one hand Turkey creates faits accomplis and on the other tries to avoid the sanctions.
“Turkey’s late moves for alleged de-escalation are not convincing”, he added and in this light Greece and Cyprus call on the other EU member states to assume their responsibilities and until the Summit we have several more days for several contacts in order to reverse the climate and the Summit to take a decision that will send a substantial message to Turkey.