Blinken: US has called out Turkey for actions against Greece
The United States has spoken up about actions that violate international law in the Eastern Mediterranean that includes Turkey’s actions against Greece, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.
“We have looked with real concern over the last year and of course more recently, at some of the actions taken in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly by Turkey, in terms of various claims and it is very important that the US stands up and engages in advancing stability sovereignty and territorial integrity of all parties in Eastern Mediterranean and insists that any disputes that arise will be resolved peacefully, diplomatically, not militarily, not through provocative actions,” he said testifying before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
“We have called out actions, including by Turkey, that violate international law or commitments as NATO ally and that includes provocative actions against Greece like violations of airspace,” he added.
Asked about Cyprus and the upcoming UN-sponsored talks in April, Blinken noted that it is an issue that US President Joe Biden has been very much engaged in throughout his career and which “he takes very, very seriously.”
“We strongly support a comprehensive settlement that reunifies Cyprus in a bizonal, bicommunal federation. We will engage in the effort to advance that prospect, including supporting the critical role of the United as well direct American engagement in that effort. So I think you’ll see American diplomacy fully engaged,” he told the committee.
