Turkey’s bid to legitimize territory claims is wrong, says Kotzias

Greece’s foreign minister has said that Turkey’s efforts to legitimize “illegal” claims on Greek sovereign territory are doomed to fail because they’re contrary to international law.

Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said Turkey has submitted to the United Nations a document containing “erroneous positions” regarding Greek territory in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean and is trying to present such claims as lawful.

But Kotzias said Monday after talks with Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides that international law can’t be manipulated to suit such schemes.

Turkey disputes Greece’s ownership of a number of uninhabited islands in the eastern Aegean and eastern Mediterranean. It also claims that part of an area where Cyprus is conducting an offshore gas search falls within its own continental shelf.

Christodoulides said Cyprus’s gas search fully abides by international law. [AP]