FM Gerapetritis addresses Greek American communities at New York meeting

The multilevel upgrade of Greek-US relations and a briefing of Greece's stance on Greek-Turkish relations was among the issues touched by Foreign Affairs Minister George Gerapetritis in an address before Greek American associations in New York City.

Gerapetritis, who is in New York to attend the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals meeting (Sept. 18-19), also spoke of the digitization of consular services to assist Greeks abroad.

The minister also conveyed a message of gratitude of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the Greek American community for its contribution to closer relations between Greece and the United States, which have reached their highest point in history.

In addition, Gerapetritis presented the roadmap for the immediate future toward establishing a positive climate between Greece and Turkiye, as it was agreed during a recent meeting in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart. The new relationship between the two countries will be based on three pillars: political dialog (led by Deputy FM Alexandra Papadopoulou), a positive agenda with mutually positive measures (led by Deputy FM Kostas Fragogiannis), and confidence-building measures.

The roadmap includes meetings on all three in October and November, with the hope of convening the Greece-Turkiye High-Level Cooperation Council by the end of the year to sign a collective set of agreements, he said.

Gerapetritis noted that the two countries' delegations will meet in New York on Wednesday to further improve cooperation, while the two countries' leaders will decide on further steps. A constructive dialog with Turkiye can only be based on full respect of International Law, including the Law of the Sea and the conditions that establish countries' sovereignty, borders, and territorial integrity, he underlined.

As a reliable ally of the United States, Greece has proven to be a valuable player in the East Mediterranean and joined it in a single front against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Greece has also upgraded the importance of the region for American interests, particularly in the energy sector.

Among other issues, Gerapetritis also highlighted the importance of the 3+1 scheme (Greece, Cyprus, Israel and the United States), spoke of the priority of Cyprus in Greek foreign relations and diplomacy, and criticized Albania for continuing to detain Greek minority and elected Himare mayor Fredi Beleri, which affects the country's prospects for EU accession.