(MENAFN- AzerNews)
By Trend
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavushoglu highlighted Greece's
maximalist and unlawful actions in a letter sent to 25 European
Union member-states, the top EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell,
permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, U.N.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and NATO Secretary-General Jens
Stoltenberg, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah .
Noting that there is a series of interconnected problems in the
Aegean Sea, the top Turkish diplomat said these include the
territorial waters, airspace, continental shelf and the
delimitation of territorial waters, the violation of the
demilitarized status of the Aegean islands and more.
Cavushoglu said that even though the extent of territorial
waters in the Aegean is limited to 6 miles (11.1 kilometers) by
international law, Greece claims authority over 10 miles of
airspace in the area, being the only country to make such an
unlawful claim.
Meanwhile, he also said Türkiye believes that the issues between
the two countries can be solved based on a mutual understanding of
the rights and interests of both, in line with international
law.
Offshore exclusive economic zones are maritime areas agreed on
between neighboring states, defining where a country has commercial
rights such as the right to explore hydrocarbons. Those zones can
extend to up to 200 nautical miles from a shoreline or, if sharing
the sea area with another state, the equidistance between the
two.
But in the case of Greece and Türkiye, the issue is complicated
by disputes over the extent of their continental shelves and the
limit of their territorial waters. The dispute has held up any
declaration by Greece to extend its territorial waters to 12 miles
from 6 miles in the Aegean.
Türkiye, which has the longest continental coastline in the
Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected maritime boundary claims made
by EU members Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration,
stressing that these excessive claims violate the sovereign rights
of both Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Both sides cite a range of decades-old treaties and international
agreements to support their conflicting territorial claims.
Turkish leaders have repeatedly stressed that Ankara favors
resolving outstanding problems in the region through international
law, good neighborly relations, dialogue and negotiations. Instead
of opting to solve problems with Ankara through dialogue, Athens
has, on several occasions, refused to sit at the negotiation table
and opted to rally Brussels to take a tougher stance against
Türkiye.
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