Greece: No Tolerance with Turkish Agression in Mediterranean

This morning, Greece called for an urgent European summit over recent Turkish violation in the Mediterranean.

The office of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will submit a request for an extraordinary meeting of the EU Council of Foreign Ministers.

The dispute erupted yesterday after Ankara sent a seismic research vessel in the Mediterranean with a mission to explore for potential oil and gas deposits south of the island of Kastelorizo, in which Turkey and Greece are fighting over maritime rights.

The Greek Navy determined the location of the Turkish ship in the southeast of Crete, accompanied by a Turkish frigate, and being monitored by Greek warships.

Turkey has earlier announced that " Oruc Reis" would conduct search operations in the region for a period of two weeks.

On his part, Greece’s foreign minister Nikos Dendias said that Turkey’s aggression will not be tolerated even though Turkish ships have violated Greece’s maritime space for over 24 hours now.

"We will not accept a fait accompli in the Eastern Mediterranean," he stressed.

“There will be no tolerance in Turkey’s challenges,” said Dendias, sending a new message to Ankara and calling on Turkey to withdraw immediately from the Greek continental shelf.

“Turkey seeks to impose itself. We will not accept it in full, there will be no tolerance for Turkey’s efforts. Greece will defend its sovereign rights,” said Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.

The exploration of energy sources in the natural gas-rich eastern Mediterranean is a source of tension between Turkey and its neighbors, Greece, Cyprus and Israel.

On his part, Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg urged respect for international law, and tweeted that the whole issue should be settled in the spirit of solidarity between allies and in accordance with international law.

On his part, the US ambassador to Greece announced that his country supports a dialogue between Greece and Turkey on the eastern Mediterranean conflict. He added that the issue of border demarcation must be resolved in accordance with international law. It also called for avoiding any measures that exacerbate the lack of confidence.