Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in his statements after the Brussels summit, said that he would meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 13.
The Prime Minister also expressed his satisfaction with the conclusions of the summit. Speaking about Turkey's reaction to Greece's proposal to create marine parks in the Aegean Sea, the Prime Minister stated: “I am also surprised by Turkey's completely unfounded reaction.”
Let us recall that earlier the press secretary of the Ministry of Defense, in response to the Greek initiative to create marine parks stated:“As a ministry, we are on alert to protect our rights, interests and benefits in the Aegean Sea, and prevent Greece from attempting to create a unilateral regime.”
Previously, the Turkish Foreign Ministry published a statementin which he expressed his bewilderment with the creation of the so-called “marine parks” in disputed territories:
In a statement today, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Greece will announce the creation of two new marine parks – in the Aegean and Ionian Seas – during “Conference on our ocean” which will take place in Athens on April 16-17, 2024. It is known that Greece has long tried to benefit from almost every platform in the context of current issues in the Aegean Sea. Despite the positive climate in our relations, it seems that Greece is once again exploiting environmental problems. We recommend that Greece does not involve the unresolved issues of the Aegean Sea, as well as issues relating to the status of certain islands, islets and rocks over which sovereignty has not been ceded to Greece in accordance with international treaties, into its own agenda.
We would also like to advise third parties including EU, not to become a tool for politically motivated attempts by Greece regarding environmental programs. On the other hand, we would like to recall that international maritime law encourages cooperation, including on environmental issues, between littoral states in closed or semi-enclosed seas, and in this context, Turkey is always ready to cooperate with Greece in the Aegean Sea.
We would like to take this opportunity to note that We will not accept the fait accompli that Greece can create on geographical objects whose status is disputed. In this regard, we reiterate that marine parkswhich are in question, will not have any legal consequences in the context of issues between the two countries in the Aegean Sea.
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