Greece Calls On Turkey To Immediately Withdraw From Continental Shelf - Foreign Minister

Greece Calls on Turkey to Immediately Withdraw From Continental Shelf - Foreign Minister

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias warned on Tuesday that Greece was ready to defend its sovereignty amid the maritime feud with Turkey and called on Ankara to immediately withdraw from the Greek continental shelf

ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th August, 2020) Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias warned on Tuesday that Greece was ready to defend its sovereignty amid the maritime feud with Turkey and called on Ankara to immediately withdraw from the Greek continental shelf.

"After meeting with [Greek] Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, I requested an emergency meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on the issue of growing Turkish provocations and law violations," Dendias said, as cited by the ministry's press service.

The diplomat added that the decision comes in light of a clear threat to peace and security in the Eastern Mediterranean, Greece and Cyprus.

Despite Athens' commitment to dialogue based on international law and the law of the sea, Turkey chose to continue violations, Dendias noted.

"We are addressing everyone. We are open about Greece defending its sovereignty and sovereign rights. We call on Turkey to immediately leave the Greek continental shelf," the foreign minister noted.

In the meantime, Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the opposition left-wing Syriza party, has also urged the government to prevent Turkey's geological survey ship from drilling off the coast of Greece's Kastellorizo island.

According to Tsipras, the country's armed forces are ready to defend the continental shelf as they did in a similar incident in 2018.

"The way in which these illegal seismic activities must and can be prevented is known to our Armed Forces since October 2018, when they attempted it effectively. We have full confidence in their abilities," the Greek politician said, as cited by the Kathimerini newspaper.

Tensions between Ankara and Athens have been running high since Turkey started seismic research in July in the area of the Kastellorizo island, located in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, which Greece views as part of its exclusive economic zone.

Greece also raised protests in the European Union, NATO, and the United Nations over Ankara's actions.