Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos participated today in the 4th Meeting of the Friends of the Syrian People Group, in Morocco, at the invitation of his Moroccan counterpart Saad dine El Otmani. The Ministerial Meeting categorically expressed the need for peace to be made in Syria, sending a strong message of solidarity with the Syrian people.
In his statement, Mr. Avramopoulos underscored that Greece is convinced of the need for continued efforts toward a political solution to the problem. The military route, he stressed, will lead nowhere, instead widening the chasm and continuing to fuel the vast humanitarian disaster.
In reference to the formation of the Syrian Opposition, Mr. Avramopoulos underscored the importance of safeguarding Syria’s rich social fabric from destruction and protecting the rights and security of all the country’s religious and ethnic groups, making special reference to Syria’s Greek Orthodox community, which, following the loss of its spiritual leader, is currently facing very major challenges.
He also stressed the need to support the efforts of the UN Special Representative for Syria, underscoring the dire need to provide humanitarian aid to the Syrian people and Syria’s neighbouring countries – particularly Lebanon and Jordan, which are under great pressure at this time.
Having noted the historical ties of friendship linking Greece and Syria, Mr. Avramopoulos stressed that Greece will stand at the Syrian people’s side in these difficult hours, pointing up the need for unity and understanding amongst the members of the international community who want to see Syria take its rightful place as a pillar of stability in the wider region.
Yesterday, the Foreign Ministry’s Secretary General, Ambassador Vassilis Kaskarelis, summoned the Syrian Ambassador to Athens, requesting the departure of the Ambassador herself and two additional diplomatic personnel from Greece.
It is our hope that reason will now prevail among the opposing sides in Syria, and that this friendly country will return to normalcy. We look forward to the return to full operation of the Greek Embassy in Damascus and the Syrian Embassy in Athens at the soonest possible time, when conditions of normalcy in Syria allow for the full development of our bilateral relations.
December 12, 2012