By Ahval
Greek officials are pushing back against Turkey’s resource aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean.
In sending a drilling ship into the region last week, Turkey violated the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and ignored preparations made between the Republic of Cyprus and the neighbouring countries to forge an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Greece’s Alternate Foreign Minister George Katrougalos told Real FM radio on Sunday.
The rights of Greece are supported by law and have been strengthened by the systematic diplomatic preparation that has preceded between Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, along with Israel and Egypt. Greece has the political support of France and the United States over the search for hydrocarbons by the Republic of Cyprus, according to Katrougalos.
“We are in a much better position than we were in in the past, precisely because we are now calling the shots and Turkey is attempting to react,” Athens24 news site quoted the minister as saying. “We promote our national interests in a way that is not contrary to international law.”
Turkey last week sent the drilling ship Fatih into the Eastern Mediterranean, a week after it had sent a survey vessel. These steps have boosted tensions between Ankara and Athens over hydrocarbon exploration in the resource-rich area.
“We will not accept attempts to seize natural resources in the Eastern Mediterranean through the exclusion of Turkey and the TRNC,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Sunday in İstanbul, Ekathiremini reported.
Turkey aims to expand its influence in the eastern Mediterranean, according to the Greek news site: “Turkey’s territorial ambitions, which have in recent weeks been mostly put forward by Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, have shifted from the south of Rhodes to the south of Crete. Coupled with this is a drive to strengthen ties with Libya.”
Turkey’s push appears to be a response to American energy giant ExxonMobil’s planned drilling in the EEZ.
