Greece to call emergency EU meeting on tensions with Turkey
Greece is set to call an emergency meeting of the European Union (EU) foreign ministers to discuss its growing dispute with Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean.
“The foreign minister (will) request an emergency meeting of the European Union foreign affairs council,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ office said on Tuesday.
Peter Stano, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, voiced concern about the rising territorial tensions and said the situation needed to be solved through dialog.
“Apparently the developments on the ground unfortunately show that… more needs to be done in order to defuse the tensions and reverse the very negative and unfortunate trend of escalation,” the spokesman said.
“That’s why (Borrell) stated that he is deploying all efforts necessary to re-establish the dialog, positive constructive dialog, and to facilitate the re-engagement, and these efforts are ongoing,” he said.
Tensions escalated in the eastern Mediterranean on Monday after Turkey launched naval exercises off two Greek islands and announced the resumption of its energy exploration research activity in the disputed area.
Turkey dispatched a research ship, accompanied by naval vessels, off the Greek island of Kastellorizo, where Turkey disputes Greek maritime rights. The Turkish vessels are being shadowed by Greek warships.
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias urged Turkey on Tuesday to withdraw the vessels from the Greek continental shelf.
“Greece will defend its sovereignty and its rights. We are calling on Turkey to immediately leave the Greek continental shelf,” he said.
Turkey had suspended the research activities but resumed them on August 6 when Egypt and Greece signed an agreement laying out the maritime boundary between their exclusive economic zones. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced that maritime deal as “worthless.”
Greece and Turkey almost went to war in 1974 over Cyprus, which has since been divided, with the northern third run by a Turkish Cypriot administration recognized only by Turkey, and the southern two thirds governed by the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot government.
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