Greek PM remains hopeful on Turkey as he updates Cyprus

Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke with Cyprus Republic President, Nicos Anastasiades by telephone on Thursday and briefed him on his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, that occurred on the sidelines of the NATO Leaders Summit in Britain.

On Thursday National Defense Minister, Nikos Panagiotopoulos also confirmed during a radio interview that Greece is keeping open all communication channels with Turkey in the hope of improving relations and collaborating on a number of issues including migration.

Panagiotopoulos hoped for collaboration on the migration but seemed unlikely now "under the current situation, with rising inflows and a relative indifference by Turkey," especially the Turkish Coast Guard.

The Minister said that both Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan understand each other's position, having "sat down for talks several times," he said, while he predicted that the controversial Turkey-Libya memorandum of understanding (MoU) on maritime zone delimitation "will not have a long future."

He noted if there is goodwill, there will be progress with Turkey. "We will be prepared for all options, at all levels," Panagiotopoulos said. Additionally, he said about the MoU that even if Turkish parliament approves it, a Libyan parliamentary vote "is very difficult if not impossible, as this Libyan government does not have the political authorization for such steps."