The Greek diplomatic mission to New York begins with a heavy agenda, as Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis plans a series of meetings with counterparts, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Open war fronts, primarily in the Middle East, are expected to dominate most discussions following the US veto of a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Palestinian territories. Greece’s interest focuses on Tuesday’s meeting between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to sources, the meeting is expected to last half an hour and will be expanded, with the foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey present, along with their diplomatic office directors.
What does the Mitsotakis-Erdogan discussion agenda include?
The Greek side has placed high on the Mitsotakis-Erdogan agenda Turkey’s participation in the European defense program Safe, as well as objections Ankara raises regarding the laying of the electrical interconnection cable between Greece, Cyprus and Israel. The cable issue will also concern the New York meeting between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides. The two leaders will meet for the first time since tensions arose in Greek-Cypriot government relations in early September, when the Cypriot side questioned the project as “non-viable.”
New York: trilateral meetings within the UN session framework
However, three trilateral meetings scheduled within the UN session framework are awaited with particular interest. The first, conducted between the foreign ministers of Greece, Cyprus and Egypt, is expected to address energy issues and the start of discussions for EEZ delimitation among the three countries. We should note that any negotiations will be conducted under Turkey’s recent influence on Al-Sisi’s Egyptian government.
The second trilateral meeting of Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis and Cyprus’s Constantinos Kombos will be with Syrian transitional government Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani, who visited Athens last August. Athens and Nicosia seek to strengthen cooperation with Syria in the eastern Mediterranean, establishing it as a potential ally-counterweight to expansive Turkish influence in the region.
The third trilateral meeting is scheduled between Greece, Cyprus and Jordan. Jordan is considered one of the Middle East’s strong countries. The goal of these contacts is regional cohesion and energy cooperation as Jordan seeks opening to the European Union.
We note that Greece is an elected Security Council member for 2025-2026. Within this framework, the foreign minister will intervene in the UN Security Council emergency session on the Middle East situation, including the Palestinian question, as well as in the Security Council session on relations between the United Nations and the Arab League, chaired by the Republic of Korea.
