Mitsotakis tells UN: keep talking to Turkey, but only under international law

# What Mitsotakis said at the UN

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis used his address to the United Nations General Assembly to position Greece as a regional force of stability in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. He focused his remarks on relations with Turkey and Cyprus, the conflicts in the Middle East, and support for Ukraine.

# Main message on Turkey

Mitsotakis said Athens seeks to continue dialogue with Ankara and to keep relations on an even keel. He framed the bilateral dispute narrowly: Greece's only outstanding issue with Turkey concerns delimitation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zones. That dispute, he said, can be resolved only on the basis of international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

He also argued that meaningful dialogue cannot coexist with unilateral actions that challenge the international legal order or with threats of war. In practical terms, that places conditions on talks: they should be rights-based, limited in scope to maritime delimitation, and free of coercive measures.

# Cyprus and UN negotiations

On Cyprus, Mitsotakis voiced support for renewing substantive, UN-led negotiations aimed at reuniting the island. He expressed expectation that those efforts will continue, signalling Athens' backing for a diplomatic restart rather than unilateral moves on the ground.

# Middle East: Gaza and a two-state outcome

Mitsotakis called for a two-state solution that would allow Israelis and Palestinians to coexist peacefully. He said Palestinians should take over control of Gaza, indicating Greece's position on post-conflict governance arrangements there.

# Support for Ukraine

The prime minister confirmed Greece's support for Ukraine amid Russia's full-scale invasion, aligning Athens with countries backing Ukraine's territorial integrity.

# Greece's UN Security Council role

Mitsotakis noted that Greece will assume the presidency of the UN Security Council in October, during what he described as a "particularly dangerous" period. He presented Greece as a country that builds bridges and offered the Security Council role as part of a broader Greek commitment to regional stability and the international order.

# Practical implications

• Diplomacy with Turkey will continue but under a restricted agenda: maritime delimitation and legal frameworks like UNCLOS.
• Athens signals low tolerance for unilateral actions or threats as a precondition for talks, an approach that can limit the scope of informal or confidence-building exchanges.
• Greece supports renewed UN mediation on Cyprus and advocates political solutions in Gaza that include Palestinian governance responsibility.
• As Security Council president in October, Greece will be in a position to shape UN discussion on the region during a tense period.

These positions map Greece's diplomatic posture: pursue dialogue, insist on legal rules, and anchor negotiation efforts in UN processes.