Greece and Turkey are both at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, and the two countries' leaders ...

Greece and Turkey are both at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, and the two countries' leaders are expected to stay apart. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis arrives in New York tomorrow after a stop in San Francisco for meetings with tech company executives. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is already there, but Greek officials say a bilateral meeting between the two is considered unlikely, though not ruled out entirely. Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis made Greece's position clear in an interview with the National Herald ahead of the gathering. He stated that maritime boundary delimitation of the continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone is the only dispute between Greece and Turkey that can be brought before international jurisdiction. He also said Greece is pursuing stability, peace, and good neighborly relations in the Eastern Mediterranean, but without any compromise on questions of sovereignty. Athens is watching Erdogan's full schedule of meetings closely. One of his first confirmed meetings in New York was with Mohammed al-Menfi, President of the Libyan Presidential Council. Ankara has been pushing to consolidate its influence in Libya, using the controversial Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum to support its claims in the Eastern Mediterranean, a move Greece views as illegal. If Erdogan secures a meeting with Donald Trump, the question of Turkey's long-stalled bid to purchase F-35 fighter jets is expected to come up. A potential brief encounter between Erdogan and French President Emmanuel Macron is also on Athens' radar, given France's active involvement in the planned Greece-Cyprus undersea electricity cable project. Adding another layer, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to visit Athens in early October, just weeks after the UN General Assembly concludes. Greek officials see that visit as significant given the fragile geopolitical situation across the Eastern Mediterranean. #Greece #Turkey #UNGA