N. KOTZIAS: It is a great pleasure, for Greek diplomacy and me personally, to be inaugurating the renovated historic Greek Consulate in Izmir. I am very pleased to have my counterpart the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, with us here at the inauguration. In spite of the problems that exist between the two states, we have found, with Mr. Çavuşoğlu, a path of cooperation, friendship and joint action, wherever we can.
The restoration of this imposing building is the restoration of the past, the present and a creative future. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs – in spite of the crisis we went through – has restored the historic buildings of Greek diplomacy, like this building here in Izmir, the ‘Seferis’ building in Korçë, our Embassy in Berlin. I want to announce here that we will also be laying the cornerstone for our Embassy in Ankara.
I want to thank those who worked for this day, our Consul General Mrs. Papoulias, all of our Consulate’s staff, our Ministry’s Technical Service. I also want to thank the local workers who, through their craft, contributed to the renovation of this beautiful building.
I thank the Turkish officials for their presence. And I thank in particular Metropolitan Bartholomew of Smyrna. All these people, and first and foremost my counterpart Mr. Çavuşoğlu, will bring us the good fortune we need in developing the Consulate’s activities.
Izmir is a beautiful city, a city of dreams, of tragedy and creativity. It is the city where, once again, I meet with my friend the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, with whom we are working towards more creative and more productive relations between the two countries. We are both working not just for better relations between the two states, but also to support Turkey's European course.
Today, both our countries are headed by great leaders who, based on international law, can resolve the pending problems. For a common future with stability in the region. For a stable and developing Turkey and for a stable and developing Greece.
After many years, Greece is emerging from the crisis. We have stood by and continue to stand by Turkey against any kind of putschists, and we are certain that Turkey will find and maintain its economic stability.
Izmir is the “city of the West” here in Turkey. Turkey is a major power in Europe. Greece is the centre of Europe’s culture and historical heritage. God and Allah gave us the gift and, sometimes, the difficulty of being neighbours.
This Consulate is a Consulate of friendship and love between neighbours, and the presence of my counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, reaffirms this friendship and our striving for a joint, peaceful and stable future.
Mrs. Papoulias, thank you for all the work you did to get us here. And I thank our Ambassador, Mr. Mavroeidis, in this regard as well.
Mevlüt, thank you very much for coming here in this -metaphorically and literally- hot atmosphere. It is an atmosphere like that of our warm hearts when we meet. I am pleased to be in Turkey again for our Consulate. Pleased to have you welcome me in your country, and to welcome you to our Consulate. Thank you very much for being here.
I thank everyone for coming.
JOURNALIST: (off microphone)
N. KOTZIAS: I very much thank my friend Mevlüt. I thank Turkey for the hospitality it shows our diplomats. We do not host terrorists. What we always have in our country is the due process of Justice and of international law. This is what we believe our relations, our friendship, our shared course in Europe should be based on.
I always underscore that a European Turkey, a Turkey that is a member state of the European Union, will be the greatest gain for Greece. I cannot imagine the future of the European Union without this special connection with Turkey. But we mustn’t wait for that day. The visa requirement for Turkish citizens must be waived much sooner, and our Consulate will have one less task to carry out.
It is Turkey’s right that the agreements with Europe be implemented. Whatever we agree to, must be implemented by both sides.
September 4, 2018