JOURNALIST: Mr. Minister, I would like your opinion of the current level of Greek-Israeli relations.
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: For some time now – however long it was in coming – relations between the two countries have been strengthened, have been deepened and have been upgraded on all levels. We have always said that our two peoples are very close to one another. We share common elements from culture and history. We are both peoples of creativity, of striving, of achievements. But we are also neighbours, because our wider neighbourhood is not limited to Southeast Europe. We are linked by the Mediterranean Sea, but we are also linked by common interests. We are linked by the common vision of shaping an environment of security, stability and peace for all the peoples of the region.
As I said, our relations have of late taken a new, positive turn, and they will be strengthened even further in the future. I will be visiting Israel in the coming month, for an opportunity to work with the Israeli government on the preparations for the High Level Cooperation Council that the two Prime Ministers have already decided to hold. This will mark another new beginning. It will bring our policies even closer together, and it will formulate a firm framework for ongoing cooperation. So our relations are at the best possible level.
With huge prospects in both our wider neighbourhood and on the global level, and I am referring here to the excellent relations that have been cultivated recently between the Greek American and Jewish American communities.
JOURNALIST: What is your message to Turkey, particularly at this time?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: First of all, the message we are sending to Turkey is a message of friendship and cooperation. I would like to take the opportunity of your question to repeat something once again: The excellent cooperation we have with Israel, the very good cooperation that is developing more and more with Turkey – this cooperation has no bearing on our relations with the other country. We have said this frankly and clearly in every direction.
Of late we have observed something that has its own special significance: Turkey’s rapprochement with Israel. This is something that, in my view, was to be expected, and it came at a time when it was deemed that this step should be taken. Greece sees this rapprochement with neither concern nor anxiety. The opposite is the case. I must confess to you that it was something that we wanted from the very outset. Because what interests us is our shaping an environment of security, cooperation and peace for all the peoples of the region. That’s what I meant – and thanks to your question I made it clear.
April 19, 2013