Turkey will respond to any Greek harassment of its energy exploration ship Oruc Reis in the Eastern Mediterranean, the country’s foreign minister warned Friday.
“Greece should avoid maximalist policies in the region,” Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told a joint press conference with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis in Bern.
The warning came on the same day as an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting by video link at Athens’ request on the Eastern Mediterranean issue.
On France declaring it would boost its military presence in the region,Çavuşoğlu said: “France should avoid any steps that would raise tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.”
France has supported Greece’s efforts to box in Ankara’s maritime territory based on small Greek islands close to Turkish shores, violating the interests of Turkey, the country with the longest coastline in the Mediterranean.
"We are always in favor of solving all problems through dialogue and peaceful resolutions," said Çavuşoğlu, reiterating Ankara’s push for a win-win solution based on fair sharing.
Çavuşoğlu also urged the EU to support dialogue and diplomacy.
The ship will continue its work in the Eastern Mediterranean along with the ships Cengiz Han and Ataman until Aug. 23.
Under the deal, Israel and the UAE agreed to normalize relations, with Israel in return pledging only to "temporarily" postpone its West Bank annexation plan.
