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Monday, September 07, 2020
The gas dispute between Greece and Turkey does not stop. Ankara begins a military exercise against Cyprus, Athens reinforces its border troops. The EU is trying to reduce the escalation. So, Turkish President Erdogan warns against bias in mediation in the conflict.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the EU to behave “impartially” in the gas dispute with Greece. Erdogan telephoned EU Council President Charles Michel on Sunday and called on Brussels and EU member states to be “fair, impartial and objective” and to behave responsibly on “regional issues”, especially in the eastern Mediterranean. “announced the Presidential Office of Turkey.
According to an EU representative, Michel called on Erdogan in the telephone conversation to work to reduce the escalation of the conflict and to refrain from activities that further fuel tensions with Greece. Since the discovery of rich gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean, there has been a heated debate about their exploitation. In addition to Greece and Turkey, Cyprus also claims the affected maritime areas. Ankara and Athens corroborate their claim by sending warships. Relations between the two NATO members are therefore extremely tense.
On Sunday, the Turkish army launched a military exercise in the north of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Michel became involved in the conflict on Friday. He suggested organizing a “multilateral conference” with the participation of Ankara.
Concerned about a possible greater influx of migrants, Greece also reinforced its units on the border with Turkey. Ankara could re-instrumentalize migrants in the coming days to blackmail the EU into not imposing sanctions on Turkey, Greek Deputy Migration Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos told Skai news channel. Erdogan declared the border with Greece, and thus the EU, open to immigrants in March. Then thousands of people headed west. Greek security forces prevented the conversions at that time.
