Moments and aspects of his tenure were mentioned by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, in the context of his interview on Yannis Sarakatsani's YouTube channel - commenting, among other things, on his relationship with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, but also with Turkey in general gives birth, characteristically saying that "we had a very difficult time... and difficult is an understatement, it was a nightmare".
However, he emphasized that he is one of those who believe that "Greece and Turkey have common interests", stressing that "if Turkey understands that solving its dispute with Greece is also in its own interest - the interest of a European, democratic , a rich Turkey, not an imperial, backward Turkey... then we can find a way out".
Speaking about interpersonal relationships in foreign policy, he said that “you are not allowed to have bad relationships. This is prohibited. It does not serve your work, your duty. Beyond that, however, there are personal ratings. Some you become friends with, others you become less friends with. But having a very good personal relationship affects a lot."
Speaking about the "on air" incident with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in 2021, whom he described as "his friend", he said that "we argued. But we argued about something that could not be tolerated, you cannot be inside Ankara, hear allegations that are completely against international law and remain silent, just because you are a guest of your friend. These things don't happen. You know the well-known saying "a friend is a friend, but the truth is a joke". He also added that ""The atmosphere immediately afterwards at the table was horror. The first twenty minutes were ice, no one spoke."
Regarding relations with Turkey, he said that these 3,5 years "we had a very difficult time... and difficult is an understatement, it was a nightmare", commenting that "we reached the limits of war... this is not a joke".
Speaking about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said that Russia made a "huge mistake" and that Greece had no choice in its stance, while also referring to his "frying" by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: "The first time who saw me fried me for two and a half hours. To give you an idea, a normal ministerial visit lasts three. She lasted seven."
Referring to the arms purchases and the reasons for them, he said characteristically "so that we don't use them. Greece is not Luxembourg, it is not Belgium, not everything is resolved in our region, there are forces, countries, opinions in the region that would like a completely different situation, that would like to dominate their neighbors. So in order to be able to face this you must have the ability to stop it, if you do not have the ability to stop it, then this can happen to you...Greece must always have in its own conscious, not subconscious, what has the state of Israel - that at the end of the day it should be able to face any enemy in the region on its own."
Source: Huffingtonpost.gr
