Neither War Nor Joint Exploitation of Energy Resources! The Aegean and Mediterranean should become seas of Peace, Cooperation and Shared Green Prosperity.

Today at 10:30 am, MeRA25’s Secretary was briefed by the Prime Minister on Greco-Turkish relations.

In turn Mr Varoufakis informed the Prime Minister on the estimations and positions of MeRA25, stressing that, today, on the 46th Anniversary of the Restoration of Democracy, our obligation is not to forget how Democracy returned to Greece: As a result of the Cypriot tragedy, brought about by nationalist choices of a foreign-led greek regime that opened the door to the Occupation of Northern Cyprus.

Ever since, Turkey has been elevated to a peripheral power, especially following the debilitation of Egypt, the disintegration of Syria, Iraq and Libya, the failure of the European Union to chart a foreign policy and, of course, the US withdrawal from the Middle East. Greece, in contrast, by being a constant yes-man, has succumbed to pathetic debt bondage.

The farcical endeavor of austerity governments to box in Turkey behind its coastline, surrounding it with extraction drills and oil rigs in concert with Netanyahu, Trump, Macron, Exxon-Mobil, Total et al, could not but have turned into a fiasco. Instead of “fortifying” Greece and creating the much sought after “safe footings”, it ended up isolating Athens while rendering Erdogan even more dominant.

Varoufakis stressed to the Prime Minister MeRA25’s estimation that the European Union, especially Berlin but also Paris, want to drag him into talks with Turkey under their own intermediation and with an agenda they themselves will have agreed with Erdogan.

With this in mind, Varoufakis called upon the government to:

• Set real red lines, which we are in fact prepared to defend no matter what the cost is – since without such reliable red lines, whether negotiating with the troika or with Ankara, dialogue ends up in one capitulation after another.
• Convene a Peripheral Summit, without intermediation, with the participation of all countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, to determine the limits of Exclusive Economic Zones in the area in the context of International Law. This is the only way to diffuse bilateral tensions between Greece and Turkey, to suppress the role of foreign intermediaries and open therapeutic dialogue between Ankara and Athens.

Finally, Yanis Varoufakis explained MeRA25’s answer to the dilemma “War or Joint Exploitation of Energy Resources?” to the Prime Minister : Neither War, nor Joint Exploitation! Instead, the Aegean and Mediterranean should become a sea of Peace, Cooperation and Shared Green Prosperity.

Read the original MeRA25 statement in Greek on our website. 

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