Greece: Turkish ‘search and rescue’ area illegal

Greece's Foreign Ministry says a "search and rescue area" that covers half the Aegean Sea, as delineated by a new Turkish law, is illegal and will end up endangering lives.

The area "as well as the one defined by a 1988 law is illegal to the extent that it includes Greek areas of sovereignty and responsibility…it is not based on operational criteria and it does not serve the purpose of [ensuring] the safety of human lives," the ministry said in an announcement published early Sunday.

"It is obvious that with this latest move that is exclusively politically motivated, Turkey does not hesitate to cause confusion, risking human lives. This move has been added to a long litany of Turkish arbitrary actions and illegal claims in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean that are to blame for the recent unprecedented escalation," continues the ministry announcement.

"Turkey must, at some point , comply at last with international legal norms," the statement concludes.