Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras held an inner cabinet meeting today to review the captivity of two Greek army officers jailed by Turkey, as well as Turkish hostility in Cyprus’ EEZ and developments on the economic front.
The Greek side has comprehensively analysed the situation and is monitoring events closely, a government source told To Vima.
There have been bilateral contacts between ministries so as to keep the situation from spinning into a serious diplomatic incident.
The government consensus was that there is little that can be done as the Turkish court in Edirne reviews the case.
The Greek government has decided to gradually increase diplomatic pressure in correlation with developments in the case in Turkey.
In that context, it will exhaust other diplomatic options before PM Alexis Tsipras calls Turkish President Erdogan or PM Binali Yildirim, if that becomes necessary.
European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas called for a swift end of the affair and called on Turkey to respect the tenets of good neighbourly relations.
The inner cabinet also discussed developments in Cyprus’ EEZ and its offshore oil and gas drilling, and the framework of pressures to persuade Ankara to abide by international law.
The PM and ministers also discussed details concerning the last stretch of the bailout programme.
