Greece: Turkish letter ‘a monumental distortion of the facts’

Greece has reacted to Turkey’s recent diplomatic drive aimed at winning support among the EU, the UN and NATO amid an escalating dispute with its Aegean rival.

Turkey’s foreign minister earlier this month wrote to all EU governments accusing Greece of engaging in “unlawful actions” and making “maximalist demands” in the Aegean. The September 1 letter from Mevlut Cavusoglu was also sent to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, permanent members of the UN Security Council, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Greek diplomatic sources on Wednesday said that the letter “repeats ad nauseam [Turkey’s] longstanding, groundless and illegal unilateral claims.”

The Turkish claims, the sources said, “contradict fundamental principles of international law, in particular the international law of the sea,” dismissing the letter as “a monumental distortion of the facts.” 

Greece has repeatedly deconstructed Turkey’s claims with a series of legal arguments that have also been shared with the UN secretary general, they said.