MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th October, 2020) Turkey should refrain from unilateral actions capable of escalating the tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean amid its drilling in disputed waters, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a press release on Tuesday ahead of his scheduled visit to Greece and Cyprus.
Less than a week after a relative calm in tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean�when Turkey retracted its drilling ships from the Greek- and Cypriot-claimed territorial waters, Ankara announced on Monday its Oruc Reis vessel would return to the same area to continue drilling.
"Cyprus and Greece are our partners in the European Union. I am travelling to Nicosia and Athens today to assure my colleagues of our full solidarity, also in our current capacity as holder of the Presidency of the Council of the EU," Maas said.
He stressed that since "the geography of the Eastern Mediterranean will not change" and Turkey will remain the neighbor of Greece and Cyprus through thick or thin, "all sides must therefore continue to work on sensible neighbourly relations."
"We therefore call on Turkey not to take unilateral measures and thereby shut the window for dialogue with Greece which has just opened. If the Turkish government is interested in holding talks - as it has repeatedly stated - then Ankara must stop vacillating between efforts to reduce tensions and provocation," the official said.
The German foreign ministry warned that Turkey's decision to resume the drilling in the disputed areas would become "a bitter setback for the efforts to de�escalate the situation - and thus to also further develop EU�Turkish relations."
Tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean have been brewing for many months around Turkey's exploration for gas in waters which Cyprus and Greece claim as their exclusive economic zones. The situation exacerbated this summer, as Turkey sent the Oruc Reis ship, accompanied by a fleet of military vessels, to drill in what Greece considers its continental shelf.
Since Ankara ignored its calls to vacate the disputed waters, Greece has mobilized its armed forces. France and Italy sent a naval contingent to the Eastern Mediterranean to conduct joint drills with Greece and Cyprus as part of the so-called Quartet Cooperation Initiative in late August.
The European Union has repeatedly called on Turkey to refrain from provocations in the Eastern Mediterranean and even threatened sanctions.
