Turkey is welcome to give up its imperial pipe-dreams and become part of our area of cooperation, but only as an equal and lawful partner, not as the neighbourhood bully, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview with Ynet.

Asked about the purpose of his visit to Israel, Mitsotakis noted this visit signals a strategic partnership between Greece and Israel “and the deep emotional bond between Greeks and Israelis,” Greek City Times reported.

Mitsotakis added the two countries celebrate 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations.

“The cooperation between our countries is reaching unprecedented heights” and that “the cooperation between Greece and Israel, in such turbulent times, is instrumental in strengthening stability, security and prosperity, to the benefit of our peoples and of the Eastern Mediterranean,” he said.

“The partnership of Greece and Israel has been indeed systematically built over the course of the last 30 years. We now give a fresh impetus to the elevated, strategic partnership of our countries,” Mitsotakis added.

Asked about the EastMed pipeline, the PM said that “projects such as EastMed have a huge collective benefit, both for our countries and for the wider region, and its implementation will make a real contribution to the security of the European Union’s energy supply.”

He noted that the EastMed project does not oppose or exclude anyone, including Turkey. 

“Regional cooperation is always open to all. However, with one basic pre-condition: To respect international law and the principles of good neighbourliness,” he said.

“Turkey is undermining stability in the region. It aims to control politically and militarily the entire area of Eastern Mediterranean.”

“In their own words, they want to have a say, they want to be the determining factor, in any decision made for and in our region. This is unacceptable for all countries cherishing their sovereignty and independence, for which they fought,” he said, adding “Turkey is welcome to give up its imperial pipe-dreams and become part of our area of cooperation. But, only as an equal, lawful partner, not as the neighbourhood bully.”