Foreign Minister sends letters to EU counterparts ahead of meeting

Photo: AA/File

Click to read the article in Turkish

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has sent letters to European Union (EU) foreign ministers and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell about recent developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and Turkey's approach on the issue.

The letters came ahead of an EU Foreign Relations Council meeting today Greece's request.

The High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, announced yesterday that an extraordinary meeting would be held regarding the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, Belarus and Lebanon.

I will call an extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council meeting this Friday afternoon.

We will discuss urgent issues and address the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Belarus Presidential elections, as well as developments in Lebanon.

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 12, 2020

In his letter, Çavuşoğlu said that Greece and Southern Cyprus's "unilateral steps and alliances" excluded Turkey, in spite of calls for collaboration and dialogue by Ankara and Northern Cyprus, the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.

He also claimed that the maritime agreement between Greece and Egypt, which he said violated Turkey and Lebanon's continental shelves, demonstrated Greece's reluctance to "start an honest dialogue with Turkey."

"Turkey-EU relations should not suffer further due to the whims and fantasies of Greece and Greek Cypriots," he added.

Çavuşoğlu invited EU countries to stand against any unjust decision that might be taken against Turkey, which has proven its good intentions until now many times.

He also held phone talks with some EU foreign ministers, including from Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, Hungary and Romania, and with EU foreign policy chief Borrell discussing these issues.

Similar letters are also being sent to UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres, UN Security Council permanent members' foreign ministers and NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg.

What happened?

As part of its hydrocarbon exploration activities, Turkey announced via Navtex the drillship MTA Oruç Reis' new seismic research activity in the Eastern Mediterranean starting August 10.

The Oruç Reis, along with the ships Ataman and Cengiz Han, will continue seismic activities in the Eastern Mediterranean through August 23.

In late July, Athens objected to Ankara's seismic survey in an area south of the island of Meis, or Kastellorizo. Turkey had subsequently announced that it suspended the drilling activities after diplomatic efforts by Germany.

Following Greece's maritime delimitation agreement with Egypt on August 6, Turkey decided to resume drilling. (PT/VK)