Greece: Turkey's Provocative Behavior Destabilizes Region

Turkey’s provocative behavior in the eastern Mediterranean is destabilizing the regional peace, according to Greek FM Nikos Dendias on Saturday.

“The illegal behavior adopted by Ankara in the eastern Mediterranean creates destabilization in the regional peace,” Dendias added in statements following his meeting with António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Relations between the Greece and Turkey became tense over the eastern Mediterranean, where Ankara is conducting energy reserves exploration on the seabed in an area Greece claims as its own continental shelf.

On Friday, Greece called on Ankara to drop its threats if it wants to start talks to reduce tension.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday affirmed that Ankara must stop its “threats” against Athens to reduce tension between the two nations.

Mitsotakis’s statements came less than 24 hours after Greece announced that there are no scheduled talks between it and Ankara to ease the rising tensions between the two nations in the eastern Mediterranean, denying what NATO announced that it would host “technical talks” between Athens and Ankara to solve this crisis.

Contributed by Omnia Ahmed