Germany's Foreign Minister to visit Turkey to discuss Eastern Medierranean issue
Photo: AA/File
Germany's Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas will visit Turkey tomorrow (August 25) to discuss a number of issues, including the Eastern Mediterranean tensions between Turkey and Greece.
Maas and his counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will also discuss bilateral relations, Turkey-EU relation and regional issues, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on its website.
Çavuşoğlu previously stated that Turkey suspended its hydrocarbon activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, which has caused tensions between Ankara and Athens, after Germany's diplomatic efforts.
Locations of Turkey's drillships in the Eastern Mediterranean:
However, following Greece's maritime border agreement with Egypt in early August, Turkey has resumed its drilling operations. Currently, it has three ships in the Mediterranean Sea carrying out seismic research.
Ankara issued another Navtex alert today for its Oruç Reis drillship, which has been carrying out activities in contested waters.
Latest developments in the Eastern MediterraneanOn 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 24, Turkey issued another Navtex, stating that the Oruç Reis vessel would continue its activities until August 27. |
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