Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan answered questions from Greece's Ta Nea newspaper after a speech at the European Policy Centre (EPC) in Brussels, touching on issues from Turkish-Greek relations and the 12-mile debate in the Aegean to the electricity interconnector project and the Blue Homeland doctrine.
"Some anti-Türkiye rhetoric is necessary in Greek domestic politics. It is like aspirin. Greek domestic politics cannot exist without Türkiye," Fidan said.
'Seize the moment'
Stressing that the problems can be solved, Fidan said: "The only person with the political legitimacy needed to solve the problem is President Erdoğan. My advice to my Greek friends: seize the moment while he is still there and work with him."
Power cable and the 70-mile offer
Asked about the planned Greece-Greek Cypriot electricity interconnector, Fidan said Türkiye does not oppose the project but expects prior written notice of research activities in disputed waters. He relayed the message President Erdoğan gave Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in New York: "Rather than spending more than 2 billion euros of European funds to bring electricity from 2,000 kilometers away, I would prefer that you buy electricity from us. We can supply you with water, electricity and natural gas from just 70 miles away, from the Turkish mainland."
Fidan also said the Turkish parliament's 1995 resolution is not a threat of war but a preventive declaration against Greece unilaterally extending its territorial waters to 12 miles. "There is no such thing as a Blue Homeland bill," he said, adding that the marine park issue has not yet been opened for discussion.
