Mitsotakis to the Wall Street Journal: We have nothing to discuss with Turkey about Chevron – If what we are doing causes them discomfort, “c’est la vie”

In the precise bully people of the economy, connected vigor issues, arsenic good arsenic connected relations with Turkey and Tayyip Erdogan, Kyriakos Mitsotakis referred during a treatment helium had with Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker, connected the sidelines of the High-Level Week of the 80th United Nations General Assembly successful New York.

One time aft the postponement of his gathering with the Turkish president successful New York, the Prime Minister stressed that “having an unfastened transmission of connection with Turkey does not mean that we hold connected each issues.”

“I person met President Erdogan 7 times since I became Prime Minister. They were not ever casual meetings, but I ever advocator for keeping unfastened channels of connection with Turkey and discussing problems openly.”

“As for Chevron (which has formally expressed involvement successful hydrocarbon exploration southbound of Crete), we person thing to sermon with Turkey, honestly. We are exercising our sovereign rights southbound of Crete, this is recognized by Chevron, and we volition proceed connected the aforesaid path,” the Prime Minister commented, adding characteristically: “If what we are doing causes immoderate discomfort successful Turkey, truthful beryllium it. C’est la vie, arsenic the French would say.”

“But we volition proceed to prosecute with them constructively and effort to find projects of communal interest,” helium went on.

“Since we talked astir tourism,” helium noted, “we welcomed much than 100,000 Turks to the islands of the Eastern Aegean, due to the fact that we granted them introduction with an explicit visa. And this is, for example, a citizen-level task that demonstrates that erstwhile it comes to our relations arsenic peoples, we tin physique connected this narration to resolve…”

At this constituent helium was interrupted by Emma Tucker, who had earlier mentioned that she vacationed successful Greece, to note: “At the edifice wherever I was staying determination was besides an energetic Turkish family, so…”
“I cognize galore Turks who chose Greece for their holidays, and they are welcome,” responded Mr. Mitsotakis.