Greek FM Dendias: “Turkey has become a travel agency for jihadists”

“Turkey has become a travel agency for jihadists, transports them to several areas of tension in the broader area,” Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said during a meeting with visiting Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Dendias was referring Turkey’s “export” to Syria and Nagorno-Karabakh. He stressed that Turkey has neo-ottoman expansion aspirations and has become a  destabilization factor in the region.

“We discussed all regional developments and the destabilizing role of Turkey,” Dendias said after the meeting with Lavrov.

The Greek FM recalled that Turkey expressed even yesterday its intention to continue search in the Greek continental shelf and underlined “it is clear it invests in tension escalation, it disregards the appeals by friend and partners.”

Dendias stressed that “Greece is ready for all possible option in order to defend its sovereignty and sovereign rights and sent the message to Ankara that “there cannot be dialogue under pressure.”

Dendias and Lavrov on Monday agreed it was Greece’s ιnalienable right to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles, in accordance with maritime law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Dendias said that during their meeting, he made a special reference to Greece’s inalienable right to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles and that the Russian foreign minister had replied that “Russia can’t adopt any other stance apart from that supported by the Law of the Sea.” He added that every member of this Treaty can register its territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles, following common sense and geographical neutralities.

Lavrov said that the difference may be resolved only through deliberations that respect and take into account the interests of each side.

“Any problems that may arise between countries should be resolved with dialogue. However difficult the situation between Greece and Turkey may be at present, we will always support discussion and the resolution of these problems through the direct talks,” Lavrov said.