By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk
Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said Friday, September 4, that negotiations with Türkiye on the delimitation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone cannot begin because Athens and Ankara failed to agree on whether maritime delimitation is their only bilateral dispute.
He said an attempt had been made to reach convergence on that starting point, but it "was not possible."
Three years after Greece and Türkiye reopened structured dialogue, that disagreement still blocks the move from managing tensions to negotiating the dispute itself. The political dialogue, Positive Agenda and Confidence-Building Measures created after the Athens Declaration of December 2023 remain active, and the two countries continue to communicate through diplomatic, military and intelligence channels.
Gerapetritis said Greece considers continental shelf and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) delimitation the only bilateral dispute that can be submitted to international adjudication. Türkiye links maritime delimitation to other issues that Athens does not accept as part of the negotiating agenda.
"If there is no convergence on this point, the discussion cannot begin," he said.
A January Bosphorus News analysis of the parallel Greek and Turkish dialogue tracks examined the same problem: the two governments had preserved the process without agreeing on where it was supposed to lead.
Gerapetritis confirmed that Athens had tried to overcome that difference and failed.
He said Greece still wants the continental shelf and EEZ question settled and hopes a common basis can eventually be found, whether under the present governments or their successors. Several other issues, however, are not open to negotiation from the Greek side.
Sovereignty, Greece's defense force structure, territorial waters and its international partnerships are outside the agenda, he said. Greece would not surrender what he described as its unilateral right to determine its defense structure or make concessions over its alliances.
The interview came after a fresh exchange of diplomatic protests between the two countries.
Gerapetritis confirmed that Greece had formally protested to Türkiye over marine environmental parks and Turkish objections to Greek maritime spatial planning.
The reciprocal diplomatic exchange in Ankara also included Turkish notes verbales setting out Ankara's objections.
Athens has raised the dispute at European Union level as well. Gerapetritis said he briefed EU foreign ministers and expected support from the bloc's institutions and member states.
He described the current period as one of rising Greek-Turkish tension, blaming Turkish rhetoric and actions, but said the deterioration was not a reason to shut down dialogue.
The machinery created after 2023 is still being used to contain disputes before they become crises, even though the two sides have not reached the point of negotiating the maritime issue itself.
That separation is visible in the intelligence channel.
Gerapetritis confirmed that Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT) chief İbrahim Kalın's recent meeting in Athens with his Greek counterpart had been arranged well in advance and was not an emergency contact triggered by the latest tensions.
Their agenda included the Middle East, Iran, freedom of navigation and maritime security, Libya, Syria and terrorism.
Gerapetritis also linked intelligence cooperation to migration, saying irregular arrivals from the east had fallen by around 80%. Political cooperation, he said, had been converted into practical results through information-sharing between the two services.
Greek and Turkish intelligence officials can therefore work on migration, maritime security and conflicts around the region while their governments remain unable to agree on the terms of a negotiation between themselves.
Gerapetritis also used the interview to describe defense procurement as an instrument of foreign policy.
Asked about the August 31 Achilles Shield agreement with Israel, he pointed to Türkiye's defense industry as the regional example.
Türkiye, he said, had spent more than three decades developing an autonomous defense industry and had used its products in regional relationships and international markets as a diplomatic tool.
Greece fell behind during its financial crisis, Gerapetritis acknowledged, but is now rebuilding its military capabilities and domestic defense production. He cited French frigates and Rafale aircraft, F-35s expected from the United States in less than two years and Israeli systems.
He rejected the argument that closer defense ties with Israel require Greece to choose between Israel and its Arab partners, citing Athens' relationships with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Gulf states.
The approximately €3 billion Achilles Shield package was signed in the same week that the Republic of Cyprus defense minister publicly linked the Greek-Israeli system to the security of Greece, Israel and Cyprus.
Gerapetritis was equally clear that Greece does not consider its defense purchases or international partnerships subjects for negotiation with Türkiye.
That leaves the two governments in a relationship where contact is routine but the threshold for substantive negotiations has not been crossed. Diplomatic protests continue, intelligence officials meet, military confidence-building channels remain active and Greece proceeds with defense and maritime initiatives that Türkiye contests.
Those channels are still functioning.
On the dispute Athens says must eventually be settled, Gerapetritis said Greece and Türkiye still do not agree on what can be negotiated.
Sources: Hellenic Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bosphorus News review and reporting.