JOURNALIST: Mr. Minister, what is the position of the EU 28 on the developments in Turkey?
N. KOTZIAS: There will be an announcement. I think there are three issues we agreed on. The first is that we condemn the coup and certainly support the institutions and constitutionality in Turkey. Second, we asked that the Turkish government act based on international law and the protection of human rights, as well as show self-restraint, which is something we also said yesterday at the meeting we had at the Foreign Ministry. Third – and this will be apparent this evening – there is a tendency toward the abolition of the death penalty being set as a condition for the continuation of EU-Turkey relations.
JOURNALIST: Was there any discussion of the eight Turkish officers who are asking Greece for asylum?
N. KOTZIAS: No, but I mentioned it to show the special problems and special nature of Greek-Turkish relations.
JOURNALIST: Do we have a position on this?
N. KOTZIAS: We will implement European and Greek law, and that is the basis on which we will handle this case, bearing in mind that these are eight officers who took part in a coup.
JOURNALIST: Mr. Minister, regarding the issue of China, of the South China Sea, how are the consultations going in the European Union?
N. KOTZIAS: As you will have seen, following many days of negotiations that ended last Saturday, and while we were still in Mongolia, en route to Greece, we achieved three excellent results: The first is for the phrasing to reflect Greece’s interests, because it is a country with special interests with regard to the implementation of the International Law of the Sea, and particularly with regard to the Aegean. The second was that we blocked them from laying blame on Greece should the decision not have come out – because, in the end, it was other states that were refusing to let this decision come out. Third, the tone and phrasing are such that they keep open the dialogue and friendship that exist between the European Union and the People’s Republic of China, and especially between Greece and the People’s Republic of China.
July 18, 2016