German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Tuesday in Athens that relations between the EU and Turkey could only improve if "Ankara abandons its provocations in the eastern Mediterranean". A few hours after this declaration, Greece said it had made a "protest approach" to Turkey which "announced explorations in part of the Greek continental shelf," said a statement from the Greek Foreign Ministry.
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According to the Greek authorities, Turkey has announced explorations in the south-eastern Aegean Sea, which constitutes "an escalation of tension in the region". "We call on Turkey to stop its illegal activities which violate our sovereign rights and undermine peace and security in the region," a Greek ministerial statement said. The German foreign minister, whose country chairs the Council of the European Union (EU) for a period of six months, insisted on "the importance of having a dialogue" with Turkey, "a strategically important country in the world. within NATO and on the migration issue ”.
"Regarding Turkey's drilling in the eastern Mediterranean, we have a clear position, international law must be respected," he declared during a press conference with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias. He added that Berlin was waiting for "these drilling" gas exploration carried out by Turkey off Cyprus "to stop and no further to be undertaken". Tensions between Greece and Turkey in particular were on the agenda of meetings on Tuesday between Heiko Maas, Nikos Dendias, President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Neighboring countries both members of NATO, Greece and Turkey have historically strained relations, aggravated in recent years by the migration issue.
Welcoming a "historic day" the day after the European agreement on a post-coronavirus recovery plan in which "solidarity" prevailed, according to him, the German minister vowed a "common European response" also on the migration issue, well "aware of the difficulty of the situation on the Greek islands" . On the situation in Libya, also on the menu for discussions, Heiko Maas expressed concern over the Egyptian parliament's decision to approve a possible armed intervention and underlined the risk of "escalation". Athens also denounces the controversial Turkish-Libyan agreement, signed last year, on the sharing of maritime spaces between Ankara and the government in Tripoli. Athens believes that this agreement aims to increase the influence of Turkey in the Mediterranean where this country has recently carried out exploratory drilling near Cyprus, sparking protests from neighboring countries, Cyprus, Greece and Egypt. The EU also denounced these “illegal drilling” and threatened Ankara with sanctions.
