Representatives from Greek and Turkish military delegations met in Athens from May 21-24 to discuss ways to prevent tensions during military exercises amid escalating political hostilities between Ankara and the Greek Cypriot Administration governing the island of Cyprus, the Greek Defense Ministry said on Friday
ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2019) Representatives from Greek and Turkish military delegations met in Athens from May 21-24 to discuss ways to prevent tensions during military exercises amid escalating political hostilities between Ankara and the Greek Cypriot Administration governing the island of Cyprus, the Greek Defense Ministry said on Friday.Tensions between Greece and Turkey escalated in mid-May when Ankara held a major naval operation throughout three of its adjoining seas and close to the island of Cyprus. Ankara and the Greek Cypriot Administration are currently embroiled in a dispute over search rights for hydrocarbons in the waters surrounding the Mediterranean island.
"The purpose of the meeting, which was the first of a series of such meetings agreed to take place, was to seek, at a technical level, activities/actions within the framework of Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) in order to prevent tension during military activities," the defense ministry said in a statement.
The defense ministry added that the talks took place in a constructive atmosphere and will be soon continued in Turkey.
The exploration of hydrocarbon resources off the coast of Cyprus has become a hot issue for the international community, ever since the first gas deposits were discovered there back in 2011. The island's disputed status and the arising issue of ownership of its natural resources turned out to be the main source of concern.
The island nation has been de facto divided into the Republic of Cyprus and the non-recognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus for decades. The crisis started back in 1974, when Turkey sent its troops to the island in response to an attempted coup by the Greek military. As a result, Ankara occupied nearly 40 percent of the country's territory, where the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was proclaimed in 1983, and which only Turkey has recognized as a sovereign state.
