No postponement of CBM talks with Turkey, says PM’s office
The prime minister's office on Tuesday said technical talks with Turkey on confidence-building measures (CBMs) will be held in Athens as planned.
Earlier on Tuesday, Kathimerini reported that a source from the Defense Ministry said Athens was freezing dialog with Turkish officials following a deal signed between Turkey and Libya on maritime borders and further Turkish claims in the Aegean.
The same source had said the Defense Ministry viewed the upcoming meeting as pointless until Ankara tones down its rhetoric and approaches dialog with Athens in a more positive manner.
The meeting between Greek and Turkish officials will be held in the Greek capital later in the month.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry claimed on Monday that Greek islands “cannot generate a maritime jurisdiction area.” The statement followed Greece and Egypt's denouncement of the accord.
In the same vein, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy, said the islands which lie on the opposite side of the median line between two mainlands “cannot create maritime jurisdiction areas beyond their territorial waters and that the length and direction of the coasts should be taken into account in delineating maritime jurisdiction areas.”
Moreover, a Turkish diplomat posted a map on Monday showing what he claimed to be the continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean which ignores the continental shelf of the islands, and disregarding the presence of Crete.
