Turkey is making Greece an official provide to renew exploratory talks on their conflicting maritime claims within the Jap Mediterranean and different present points this month, Overseas Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated Monday.
Talking at a joint information convention together with his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu within the capital Ankara, Çavuşoğlu stated Greece had beforehand indicated it might resume talks on Jan. 11, however that no transfer had been made.
“So Greece has no excuse proper now,” Çavuşoğlu stated, including that the talks would cowl all points between the 2 neighbors who’re each members of the NATO trans-Atlantic alliance.
“As Turkey, we need to make an official invitation. As of as we speak, we urge Greece to begin exploratory talks, with the primary assembly to be held inside the month of January,” he stated.
Later, Greece’s Overseas Ministry stated it had not acquired a proper invitation however was prepared to restart talks.
Çavuşoğlu stated Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who was in Ankara final week, had tried to deliver him along with Greek counterpart Niko Dendias in Tirana, however that Dendias had refused on the time over the Oruç Reis. He stated he was prepared to fulfill Dendias in Tirana after the resumption of exploratory talks.
“That is an invite. I hope Greece doesn’t flip down this chance,” he stated
Relations between the long-time regional rivals and uneasy NATO allies have deteriorated quick in current months, with variations together with offshore drilling rights, immigration flows and Turkey’s determination to revert Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque.
Because the discovery of serious fuel reserves within the area a decade in the past, international locations have been engaged in renewed disputes over maritime borders, whereas worldwide legislation presents few cures. The deepening rift between the 2 international locations has widened with Turkey’s determination to reinforce power exploration actions within the Jap Mediterranean and the deal Ankara made with Libya’s official authorities.
Ankara accuses Athens of pursuing maximalist insurance policies within the area and underlines that its maritime claims represent a violation of Turkey’s sovereign rights.
Turkish leaders have repeatedly harassed that Ankara is in favor of resolving all excellent issues within the area by means of worldwide legislation, good neighborly relations, dialogue and negotiation.
Though Turkey and Greece had agreed on the overall rules of NATO-led deconfliction talks in October, hailed by NATO Secretary-Basic Jens Stoltenberg as a “security mechanism that may assist to create the area for diplomatic efforts to handle the underlying dispute,” additional talks have been obstructed by the Greek aspect.
