Kammenos: Good bilateral relations also in Turkey’s interest
Greece wishes to sustain good neighborly ties with Turkey, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said Friday, adding that a good bilateral relationship is “also in the interest of Turkey.”
Asked during a visit to Crete whether he was concerned by Turkey’s activity in Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Kammenos added that although Greece “will do everything to coexist in peace, it will not make any concessions in protecting national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
A Turkish energy exploration ship will continue to operate in the Mediterranean Sea, the country’s energy minister said on Friday, after Ankara said the navy stopped a Greek frigate from harassing the ship due to territorial disputes. Greece has denied it harassed the frigate.
Kammenos said that US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell was visiting Cyprus ahead of plans by ExxonMobil to search for natural gas off the coast of the Mediterranean island.
The US giant is also part of a consortium that has been selected to conduct hydrocarbon research off western and northwestern Crete.
