Greek PM tells Turkey to ‘stop provocations’ in East Med

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called on Turkey to “stop the provocations” in the eastern Mediterranean, during a CNN interview with Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday evening.

Greece “cannot tolerate the unilateral activities by Turkey”, which challenges Greece’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), said Mitsotakis said, according to a Greek Reporter news report on the interview. The premier said a major issue was Turkey sending “significant numbers of military vessels” to accompany its seismic surveying vessel Oruc Reis.

Tension between NATO members Turkey and Greece has intensified in the past week after Turkey sent the Oruç Reis, escorted by warships, to map out possible oil and gas drilling in territory over which both countries claim jurisdiction.

Turkey has said the Oruc Reis, operating between Cyprus and the Greek island of Crete, will continue work until Aug. 23, despite a call from the European Union for Turkey to halt its activities in the contested waters.

Earlier this week, various news reports said Ankara was sending three drillships to the area to boost Turkey’s seismic exploration.

“My message to Turkey is very simple: stop the provocations and let’s start talking as civilised neighbours,” Mitsotakis said.

Expanding on this possibility, Mitsotakis said a recent pact signed by Greece and Egypt “could work as a blueprint for other similar agreements” between other nations as well.

However, that “cannot happen if we are engaged in sabre-rattling, and if we have to every now and then face half the Turkish fleet in the eastern Aegean”, he said.

On Aug. 6, Egypt and Greece signed an agreement designating an EEZ between the two countries in the eastern Mediterranean – a move that Ankara called illegal and violation of rights. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the day after that Turkey would resume offshore mineral exploration in the region.

Relations between Turkey and Greece deteriorated in the past two years after Turkey sought to explore for minerals off the coast of Cyprus.

Ankara, which does not recognise Cyprus as a state, claims half of the country’s EEZ on behalf of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and has repeatedly carried out warship-escorted offshore drilling in the territory.