Mitsotakis Says Greece Will Only Discuss Maritime Zones With Türkiye

By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece will discuss only the delimitation of maritime zones with Türkiye, rejecting other Turkish claims as non-negotiable in a June 9 episode of H.R. McMaster's Battlegrounds podcast, published by the Greek Prime Minister's Office on June 12.

The interview also placed Ankara, Libya migration pressure and maritime security from the Red Sea to Hormuz inside a broader Greek regional agenda, as Athens seeks to combine dialogue with Türkiye, military strengthening and a larger European security role.

Mitsotakis described Türkiye as a power that had acted "revisionist" over the past decade, especially at sea, but said Athens still wanted cooperation with Ankara under clear limits.

"We have one major difference with Türkiye: the delimitation of maritime zones in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean," Mitsotakis said, adding that he had made this position "absolutely clear" to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Greek prime minister said Greece's sovereignty and sovereign rights cannot be questioned, and argued that no Greek prime minister would enter negotiations over claims Athens views as baseless.

Mitsotakis said the climate between Athens and Ankara had improved over the past two to three years, but also pointed to a recent rise in rhetoric and activity. He said Greece would keep channels open with Türkiye, while strengthening its armed forces.

"I am not naive. I will strengthen our armed forces," he said.

The Türkiye remarks were part of a broader security message. Mitsotakis also spoke about migration flows from eastern Libya to Crete, saying Greece was working with Libyan counterparts and had offered to train the Libyan coast guard.

"These people should not depart from the shores of Libya," he said, referring to irregular migrants leaving by sea.

Mitsotakis also linked Europe's security role to maritime routes beyond the Eastern Mediterranean, citing the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz. He said Europe already had ships operating in the Red Sea against Houthi attacks, including a Greek vessel, and argued that Europe should be able to act if a security force were needed around Hormuz.

The remarks came as Athens tries to present itself as a stable security actor between the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, the Red Sea and European defense planning.

Greek opposition voices challenged Mitsotakis' framing. PASOK spokesman Kostas Tsoukalas said the prime minister had listed what he viewed as foreign-policy successes while leaving out the Türkiye-Libya memorandum, the Blue Homeland doctrine, the obstruction of cable-laying near Kasos, long-duration NAVTEX activity and Ankara's new maritime bill, Militaire reported.

That criticism points to the domestic pressure behind the foreign-policy message. Mitsotakis framed the Greece-Türkiye file as a managed dispute limited to maritime-zone delimitation, while the opposition argued that Ankara-related pressure points have widened rather than narrowed.

Mitsotakis also used the interview to say he would seek a third term, arguing that Greece needed more time to make economic and institutional reforms irreversible.

The core message was regional. Athens is presenting a line that combines dialogue with Ankara, military strengthening, migration control in the Libya-Crete corridor and a larger European role in maritime security from the Red Sea to Hormuz.

***Sources: Greek Prime Minister's Office, Hoover Institution, AMNA, ERT, Kathimerini, Naftemporiki, Militaire, Bosphorus News review.