BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th August, 2020) German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on the leaders of Greece and Turkey to avoid any further escalation of tensions in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, German Government Spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Friday.
The Turkish-Greek tensions escalated this week after Turkey's Oruc Reis research vessel began exploration drilling in Greek-claimed waters in the Mediterranean on Monday. Earlier in the day, the Greek Armyvoice.gr news portal reported, citing sources, that Greek naval frigate Limnos and Turkish frigate Kemalreis (F-247) bumped in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The incident happened in close proximity to Oruc Reis. The area is heavily patrolled by both Turkish and Greek vessels.
"I can confirm that the chancellor had a telephone conversation yesterday with Greek Prime Minister [Kyriakos] Mitsotakis and President [of Turkey Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, and spoke about the worrying situation in the eastern Mediterranean. Our position ... is very clear: this tension is a concern, it is important to avoid escalation and further exacerbation, as well as to start a direct dialogue between the two states to discuss controversial maritime issues," Seibert said at a briefing in Berlin on Friday.
Tensions between two NATO allies increased again earlier in August after Greece and Egypt signed a maritime deal on an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the eastern Mediterranean. Ankara then slammed the agreement as "null and void," saying that Athens and Cairo share no sea border, and claimed that the area of the EEZ was in fact located on Turkey's continental shelf. The Greece-Egypt deal prompted Turkey to resume seismic research in the eastern Mediterranean.
