Turkey extends east Med survey, Greece calls it an 'illegal move'

  • 10/25/2020
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Turkey said Greece’s accusation was “baseless” as tensions between the NATO members flared again in a dispute over the extent of their continental shelves and conflicting claims to hydrocarbon resources in the eastern Mediterranean. The row erupted in August when Turkey sent the Oruc Reis into waters also claimed by Greece and Cyprus, both of them members of the European Union. Along with two other ships, the Oruc Reis will operate south of the Greek island of Rhodes until Nov. 4, according to a Turkish naval maritime notice issued late on Saturday. A previous notice scheduled survey work in the area until Oct. 27. The Greek Foreign Ministry said it would file a complaint with the Turkish side following the new advisory. It said the extension of the survey was an “illegal move” at odds with efforts to ease tensions and with recent conclusions of the council of EU heads of government. Turkey, it added, was behaving “like a pariah” and seeking to destabilise the region. “Greece blatantly condemns this unacceptable behaviour, which is essentially moving even further away from the prospect of a constructive dialogue,” the ministry said, calling for the advisory to be revoked immediately.

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