Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, while on a working visit to New York, met yesterday with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The agenda of their talks included the negotiation process on the FYROM name issue, the Cyprus issue, as well as issues concerning stability and security in the wider region of Southeastern Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa.

The FM’s schedule also included a meeting with representatives of the Hellenic Initiative to discuss investment opportunities in Greece and the strengthening of the country’s image abroad as well as a meeting with His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America.

Meanwhile, a note verbale was submitted by Greece to the UN yesterday, notifying the international organisation of Turkey’s granting of exploration permits in areas of the Greek continental shelf. The action aims to safeguard Greece’s sovereign rights, in accordance with customary and conventional Law of the Sea, and specifically the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982).

Greece wants to have good neighbourly relations with Turkey, and all countries in the region, "based on mutual respect and international legality, particularly regarding matters that concern our sovereign rights and the exploitation of our natural wealth," an announcement by the Foreign ministry stresses.