Greek Foreign Affairs Minister George Gerapetritis met on Wednesday in Athens with interim Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Syrian Arab Republic, Asaad Al-Shaibani.
The meeting “was a significant opportunity for the strengthening of bilateral relations, with the further aims of upgrading them, in a geopolitical fragile situation, given the developments in the Middle East and the East Mediterranean.”
According to statements by Greek Foreign Affairs Minister spokeswoman Lana Zochiou, the two ministers discussed among other issues the provision by the Greek side of technology for the building of institutions and promotion of collaboration in the sector of migration with the convening of technical committees.
“Mr Gerapetritis underlined that Greece firmly supports the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Syria and reiterated the necessity of the keeping of commitments by the transitional Syrian administration for an inclusive governing, without external interventions, from which no ethnic and religious community should be excluded,” Zochiou added.
At the same time, Gerapetritis “reiterated the undiminished interest of Greece for the protection of Christian populations of Syria and the critical factor of retaining an open communication channel between the Syrian transitional government and the Patriarchate of Antioch, as an institution that protects and promotes Damascus’ relations with the Greek Orthodox and general Christian flock in Syria. He also noted the significance of adherence to International Law and especially the Law of the Sea, as well as the respect of sovereign rights of neighboring countries.”
Finally, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman noted that Gerapetritis and Al-Shibani “confirmed their intention to promote regional cooperation through the establishment of a trilateral scheme with the inclusion also of the Cyprus Republic, with a possibly first meeting at foreign ministerial level in September, in the sidelines of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.”
