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Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay warned Greece on Saturday that it could provoke a war if it expands its maritime borders in the Mediterranean.
“If Greece expanding its territorial waters is not a cause of war, what would it be?” Oktay pointed out in an interview with the Turkish news agency Anatolia.
In addition, Oktay has asked the EU for fairness in disputes with Greece and has defended that the country “protect its rights over each cubic meter of the waters of the eastern Mediterranean no matter what happens.”
Turkey threatens war against Greece if it expands its territorial waters
AP “How false it is for the EU to ask for a dialogue while making plans from behind for our activities on our continental shelf in the eastern Mediterranean,” Oktay added via Twitter.
“We know well the language of peace and diplomacy, but we will not hesitate to do what is necessary to protect the rights and interests of Turkey. France and Greece are among those who know this best,” he warned.
WHAT IS HAPPENING BETWEEN GREECE AND TURKEY?
Last Wednesday, Greece reached an agreement with Italy to extend the Greek territorial waters in the Ionian Sea towards Italian territory, between 6 and 12 nautical miles (10 and 20 kilometers) following the agreements recently reached with Italy and Egypt.
The announcement comes in light of an increase in tension with Turkey over hydrocarbon exploration and prospecting activities in the Aegean Sea.
The dispute over Turkish natural gas exploration off the Greek islands of Rhodes and Castelórizo in the eastern Mediterranean has steadily escalated in recent weeks. Greece considers exploration to be illegal. The European Union has also condemned the Turkish actions and called on Ankara to stop them.
Greece has accused Turkey of carrying out prospecting and exploration activities for hydrocarbons “illegally” off the Greek islands. However, the Turkish government rejects the accusations and assures that it has the right to explore the area. The Turkish government, for its part, considers that the waters in which gas is being drilled on an experimental basis belong to the Turkish continental shelf.
Turkey threatens war against Greece if it expands its territorial waters
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