The Greek Letter ekathimerini. com
28 september 2025
Constantine Capsaskis
Newsletter Editor
Welcome to the weekly round-up of news by Kathimerini English Edition. The visit of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week was overshadowed by the cancellation of his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The meeting, set to take place on Tuesday, was initially postponed by Ankara just four hours before the meeting’s scheduled time, stating that Erdogan would be attending a gathering of Arab and Muslim leaders hosted by United States President Donald Trump. It was eventually cancelled altogether.
However, several officials in the Greek capital have stressed that Turkey’s decision to postpone the meeting should not necessarily be interpreted as ill intent and dismissed speculation over possible motives, stating that it is common at such events. “There was a real reason,” they emphasize.
Yet the abrupt cancellation raised serious questions in Athens, as Greek-Turkish relations are at a two-year low following recent developments in the wider Eastern Mediterranean which have led to a noticeable ‘chill’ in diplomatic efforts for a rapprochement.
They include continued friction over Turkish claims, arising from the null and void Turkish-Libyan Memorandum, over areas of Greek maritime sovereignty, tension over the electricity interconnector between Greece and Cyprus, and Greece’s apprehension over Turkey’s participation in the European Union’s SAFE defensive spending initiative.
The cancellation led to a political furore at home for Mitsotakis, with opposition parties decrying the government’s foreign policy. Nikos Androulakis, the leader of main opposition party PASOK, described the situation as evidence of “amateurism” at the Foreign Ministry, with the party’s foreign affairs spokesperson stating that it sends “the wrong signals during a critical geopolitical moment”.
Across the spectrum, from the Greek Communist Party to the far-right Greek Solution, party leaders argued that government policy had left Greece “marginalized” and “unwelcome” internationally.
However, Prime Minister Mitsotakis also used his time in New York to hold several other important meetings, including with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, as well as business and finance leaders, including investors, fund managers, and bankers.
Finally, during his address to the United Nations General Assembly, the prime minister stated that Greece will continue to emphasize that differences with Turkey should be resolved through dialogue and called on the Turkish government to remove the threat of war between the two states, calling the longstanding casus belli as a “dark cloud” over bilateral relations.
Commenting on the situation in Gaza he noted that “the continuation of this course of action will ultimately harm Israel’s own interests, leading to an erosion of international support”, adding that Israel risks “alienating all their remaining allies if they persist on a path that is shattering the potential of a two-state solution”.
Editor-in-Chief, Kathimerini English Edition
Diplomatic Challenges
[InTime News]
Following the postponed High-Level Cooperation Council between Greece and Turkey, which was expected to take place in the first half of the year, and last week’s cancellation of the meeting between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in New York, the bilateral relationship seems to have stalled.
During the last few years relations between the two NATO allies followed a cautiously positive trajectory, which the Greek side hoped, and still does, would continue. If a meeting between the two leaders is arranged soon, the spirit of the Athens Declaration signed in 2023 could survive.
A lot depends on what the real aim of Ankara is. If it wants “calm waters” in the Aegean to continue, they will.
Athens’ choice is clear; peaceful dialogue with no threats of war on the many issues we can cooperate on, and possible recourse to the International Court of Justice to solve our major difference, the delimitation of the continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone, rather than confrontation.
After all, threatening a NATO ally with war does not make Turkey a pillar of stability and cooperation with the West.
As the regional diplomatic landscape gets more complicated presenting a number of strategic challenges to all, the decisions made and the actions taken in the short and medium term on the energy front, could prove critical.
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