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US President Donald Trump has urged President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis to solve the Eastern Mediterranean crisis with dialogue.
In separate phone calls with the two leaders, he expressed his concerns about the tension between the two NATO allies, according to White House.
"President Trump reaffirmed that Greece and Turkey must commit to dialogue, which is the only path to resolving their differences," White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said on Twitter.
President Trump reaffirmed that Greece and Turkey must commit to dialogue, which is the only path to resolving their differences. The two leaders also discussed important bilateral and regional issues.
— Judd Deere (@JuddPDeere45) August 27, 2020
Tensions over Turkey's hydrocarbon exploration activities have risen over the past month. Greece has disputed Turkey's current energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean, which it says violates its and southern Cyprus' maritime rights.
Turkey has sent out drill ships to explore for energy on its continental shelf, saying that both Turkey and Northern Cyprus have rights in the region.
The Presidency's Communications Directorate also released a read out of the phone talk, saying that Erdoğan reminded Trump that "Turkey is not a party creating instability in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Erdoğan also told his counterpart that Turkey proved with "concrete actions" that it wants to reduce tensions and establish dialogue on the matter.
Germany has also been working to reduce tensions between the two neighbors as its Foreign Minister Heiko Maas visited both Athens and Ankara on Tuesday.
Timeline of the Eastern Mediterranean crisisOn July 28, Turkey announced that it suspended hydrocarbon exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean and stated that it was ready to talk with Greece. On August 6, Greece and Egypt signed a maritime border agreement. On August 10, Turkey announced that its drillship Oruç Reis would resume energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean. It said the ship will continue its work along with the ships Cengiz Han and Ataman until August 23. On August 14, the EU foreign miniters discussed the crisis at an extraordinary meeting, calling on Turkey to end hydrocarbon exploration activities in contested waters. On August 16, Turkey issued a Navtex, announcing that its drill ship Yavuz will continue its work exploring for energy resources off the island of Cyprus. On August 23, Turkey issued another Navtex, stating that the Oruç Reis vessel would continue its activities until August 27. On August 24, Greece held joint naval drills with the US in the south of Crete island. One day later, Turkey conducted naval exercises with Italy. On August 25, Germany's Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas visited Athens and Ankara to encourage the two countires to have direct talks. |
(PT/VK)
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