With yesterday's illegal Navtex which (Turkey) issued for researchjust six
miles from our shores, the leadership of Turkey showed
it is not a reliable interlocutor. Instead of dialogue, instead of
exploratory talks which they had committed to setting a date,
they once again chose escalation.
From Libya to Iraq, from the Aegean to the eastern Mediterranean, Syria,
Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey is the common denominator in
every problem in our region. It showed that the invocations
for dialogue were nothing more than pretexts.
The international community should judge it based on its
actions and not by its declarations.
I decided to travel only to Nicosia and Athens today, and this was
a very deliberate decision in light of the developments we were
just talking about. I said once more: it's now
up to Turkey to create the conditions for talks,
to ensure an atmosphere in which exploratory talks
have a chance of success. That's only possible without
one-sided provocation. I remain convinced that
the contentious issues which must be clarified can only be
solved through direct dialogue. And therefore the German government
remains ready to support each and every effort to achieve this goal.
You urge Turkey to withdraw from Syria. In diplomacy, using
the word ‘urge’ is not the right approach as it is a reflection
of looking down on. You may say ‘call on’
but not "urge". It’s okay. But now I want to ask, ‘Who gave you
the power to urge or to warn Turkey to withdraw from Syria?
Everyone can anyone tell the thoughts freely in Turkey,
but we have no double standards about freedom.
In European countries such as Sweden, a DAESH member cannot
freely speak out because he is a terrorist.
However, PKK or FETO members can speak freely.
It is not about the right of telling thoughts freely, this is just an
example of a double standard.