Greece’ Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said that the European Union, the UNESCO and the United Nations must launch initiatives for Turkey’s decision to convert Hagia Sophia to a mosque. He said further that Greece will ask the European Union to prepare a list of “very powerful measures” against Turkey, in case it infringes on Greek sovereign rights with its drilling for oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean.
Speaking to Skai TV on Sunday, Dendias said that “Erdogan is crossing a line. He even repudiates his own country’s tradition. He is turning his back to the international community and its rules.
“We should not ignore the fact that he shows no spirit of cooperation within international law,” he added.
Despite that, Dendias said, Turkey should be given the space to reverse its decision on Hagia Sophia without seeming to bow to international pressure.
The foreign minister added that the issue is not one between Greece and Turkey but one involving the global community. “It is Unesco that has the responsibility to protect the monument,” he said.
However, the EU, that is the Foreign Affairs Council scheduled for tomorrow, Monday,does not seem to have the intention to discuss any sanctions against Turkey, either for its eastern Mediterranean drilling or any violation of the arms embargo in Libya.
Speaking to daily kathimerini, a high-ranking EU official said that “there is no intention to put on the table” the prospect of sanctions against Turkey for its exploratory drilling activities at Monday’s first face-to-face meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Foreign Affairs Council will include an “in-depth discussion” of all aspects of EU-Turkey relations. But, if anything, the EU is expected to make symbolic “good will” gestures toward Turkey, with EU High Representative Josep Borrell mentioning the failed 2016 coup in Turkey and emphasizing the EU’s support for Turkey’s elected government. Turkey’s perception of lukewarm EU condemnation of the coup has contributed to a cooling of relations.
The purpose of all that is “to unblock a very difficult relationship” that has been downgraded in the past few years, the EU official said.
Dendias said that he will bring the Hagia Sophia issue at Monday’s EU Council.