Greek National Council For Foreign Policy Discusses Turkey Amid Drilling Dispute - Reports

Greek National Council for Foreign Policy Discusses Turkey Amid Drilling Dispute - Reports

The Greek National Council for Foreign Policy is meeting on Wednesday to develop a new operational plan and discuss the ongoing actions of Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea amid an oil and gas drilling dispute, Greek media reported on Wednesday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th May, 2020) The Greek National Council for Foreign Policy is meeting on Wednesday to develop a new operational plan and discuss the ongoing actions of Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea amid an oil and gas drilling dispute, Greek media reported on Wednesday.

According to the Greek Kathimerini daily, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias is chairing the meeting, which will also be attended by Alternate Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis and Konstantinos Gioulekas, the chairman of the National Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee.

Tensions have risen between Athens and Ankara in recent months in the wake of a new maritime border signed in November by Turkey and the UN-recognized Government of National Accord in Libya.

The deal had particular importance as Ankara attempted to claim oil and gas reserves off the Cypriot coast, and in late April, Greek media reported that Turkey's Yavuz drilling vessel had been dispatched to Cyprus' exclusive economic zone.

In a joint statement released on Monday, the foreign ministers of Cyprus, Greece, Egypt, France, and the United Arab Emirates said that Turkey's drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean were illegal and provocative.