The First Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Roussos Koundouros, resigned as a sign of protest for his exclusion from the progress of the Greek-Turkish dialogue, leaving hints that this is being done at the expense of the country’s national interests.
With his letter, Mr. Koundouros hints at a hidden agenda and denounces the exclusion of experienced and competent diplomats from the Greek-Turkish dialogue and from being informed about the context and handling of important issues.
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As Mr. Koundouros mentions in his letter, in the recent meeting of Foreign Ministers Giorgos Gerapetritis and Hakan Fidan on November 8 in Athens, he was not invited to this meeting, and this was inconsistent with the composition of the Turkish delegation.
At the same time, the ambassador emphasizes that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not take into account any of his concerns about the existing Greek-Turkish dialogue, although he had expressed his views in writing before the November 8 meeting.
As can be seen from the letter, Roussos Koundouros complains that the most serious issues of Greek-Turkish and Greek-European relations were not taken into account, as well as his reports on other foreign policy issues.
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Read the resignation letter:
“Referring to the omission of the undersigned 1st General Director from the composition of the Greek delegation during the meeting of Foreign Ministers of Greece-Turkey (current 8), in mismatch with the composition of the Turkish delegation, omission of information, for reasons of official order and personal decency, I submit my resignation from the Service.
Regarding the development of Greece-Turkey relations, it should be noted that the signatory’s opinions were submitted ex officio in writing, before the above meeting.
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For the sake of the general picture, I add that a series of serious, in the opinion of the signatory, issues of Greek-Turkish and Euro-Turkish relations, which were submitted in writing, were not followed up on.
I also hold back the lack of information or comprehensive discussion with the signatory regarding the handling or framing of other important foreign policy issues, directly concerning the 1st General Directorate.
In the light of the above, it becomes problematic to exercise the duties of the First General Director, including communication with my counterparts in third countries, who reasonably ask questions about one issue or another.”
What do Foreign Ministry sources answer?
Sources of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs state that the ambassador Mr. Koundouros will retire in a month, and note that “the confidence of the current political leadership in him was demonstrated by the extension he received, for one year, from the Minister of Foreign Affairs himself, Mr. G. Gerapetritis for the exercise of his duties, despite the completion of the retirement limit”.
According to the diplomatic sources, in view of his retirement, due to the completion of the maximum age limit set by the Constitution at the end of 2025, his replacement by the current director of the Greek-Turkish Directorate, who participated in the last meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and of his Turkish counterpart, in view of the preparation of the Greece-Turkey ASM next January.
The same sources conclude:
“In the extended talks of the delegations that took place during the meeting of the Greek-Turkish foreign ministers on November 8, his counterpart did not participate. Until this meeting, the Political Director participated in all the meetings of the Greek-Turkish political dialogue”.
Source: www.zougla.gr
