According to the information provided by Cyprus-Mail, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday called Greece’s expulsion of the Libyan envoy an “international scandal”.
In a TV interview, Turkish President also said Turkey and Libya could carry out joint exploration operations in the eastern Mediterranean after the two sides signed a deal on maritime boundaries.
According to the information given by President Erdogan Turkey would procure a new drilling ship to continue activities in the eastern Mediterranean, adding that Ankara could expand operations to the Black Sea or international waters.
The comments came after EU foreign ministers on Monday said the maritime delimitation agreement between Turkey and Libya raised major concern, as it expressed solidarity towards Greece and Cyprus.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said the matter was discussed by the bloc’s foreign ministers “and it was clear from our discussion that this document raises major concerns.”
“We expressed our solidarity and our support to Greece and Cyprus and will continue doing that,” Borrell said.
Ankara’s move has raised tensions in the region, especially with Greece, which said the deal had no legal standing.
Greece said any such accord would be geographically absurd because it ignored the presence of the Greek island of Crete between the coasts of Turkey and Libya. Along with Cyprus and Greece, Egypt has also condemned the move.
Erdogan in his interview also said Ankara was protecting the rights of Turkey, Libya and the TRNC while “the Greek Cypriot administration”, Greece, Israel and Egypt were trying to exert sovereignty over the eastern Mediterranean. Nevertheless, he said, he was ready for a dialogue with Greece but wanted to be clear that there would be no pipeline in the region without Turkey’s approval. “We don’t want to make enemies,” Erdogan said.
*The information and views set out in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the official opinion of the IPE Club. Neither the IPE Club nor any person acting on it behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.
