By Cyprus-mail
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on Friday briefed his Cypriot counterpart Nicos Christodoulides on the exclusive economic zone agreement between Athens and Cairo signed on Thursday.
Greece and Egypt signed the agreement designating an EEZ on Thursday, which effectively nullified an accord between Turkey and Libya, and spurred criticism from Ankara.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan commented that Ankara would restart its drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Erdogan said the Egypt-Greece accord was of no value and that Turkey would sustain its agreement with Libya “decisively”.
On Friday, Christodoulides said he was satisfied with the agreement between Greece and Egypt.
He added it proved delimitation agreements on the EEZ are made through negotiations and good faith, not through unilateral actions and illegal actions, as is the case with the Turkey-Libya memorandum.
President Nicos Anastasiades is also set to speak with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the issue.
Turkey and Greece have long been at loggerheads over overlapping claims for hydrocarbon resources and tensions flared up last month, prompting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to hold talks with the country’s leaders to ease tensions.
Turkey has sent it seismic research vessel Barbaros has been in Cyprus’ EEZ since the end of July, when Ankara issued a Navtex it would be exploring in the region accompanied by a warship and a support vessel.
