“There is no way we accept fait a compli,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Turkey responding to provocative statements of Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler regarding exploration in the Aegean Sea.
“We believe that the mild climate that permeates Greek-Turkish relations can favor the restart of talks on the Cyprus issue. We certainly know and have no illusions that this climate does not imply a change in Turkey’s positions. However, we also remain steadfast on issues of sovereignty and observance of international law and the law of the sea,” Mitsotakis stressed from Nicosia on Wednesday where he pays a visit.
In recent remarks to a parliamentary committee, Guler said that Greece is in violation of the Bern agreement by attempting to carry out research activities in the Aegean Sea without the consent of Ankara.
The Bern agreement, signed by Turkey and Greece in October 1976, is a proces-verbal in which both sides committed to refraining from actions considered provocative by the other in the Aegean, until the delimitation of the Aegean continental shelf is resolved.
The Greek Defense Ministry also responded to Guler saying that Greece remains firmly committed to international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). “Positions which contradict international law do not contribute to fostering a climate of mutual trust or improving bilateral relations,” sources from the ministry stressed.
“In any case, the Greek Armed Forces stand as a guarantor of our national sovereignty and sovereign rights, as defined by the principles of the international legal order,” the sources added.
Reiterating the constant positions of the Turkish Foreign Policy, Yasar Guler also described the claims of Greece and Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean as “maximalist and illegal” and reiterated Turkey’s position on maintaining the demilitarized status of the Aegean islands.
The Turkish defense minister further reiterated Ankara’s commitment to the so-called “Blue Homeland” doctrine, which foresees Turkish influence over large swaths of the Eastern Mediterranean.
PS No matter how “calm the waters” between Greece and Turkey currently are, Ankara will never abandon or move a centimeter from its position regarding the Aegean Sea and the occupied Cyprus.
