A joint communiqué signed at a seven-nation forum in Athens on Thursday – three EU states and four Arab countries – includes direct references to international law, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and abstention from threats or use of violence – a text that describes Erdogan’s Turkey.
The gathering in Athens, called the “Philia Forum”, with philia meaning friendship in Greek, included the attendance by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. It brought together the host country’s foreign minister, along with his counterparts from Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The forum comes after the Mitsotakis government accelerated diplomatic initiatives in the wider region to delimitate maritime zones, signing a relevant agreement with Italy and Egypt, as well as agreeing to jointly refer the delineation with Albania in the Ionian Sea to the International Court at The Hague.
The entire communique is found here:
https://www.mfa.gr/en/current-affairs/statements-speeches/ministry-of-foreign-affairs-announcement-on-the-philia-forum-meeting-of-foreign-ministers-athens-11-february-2021.html
