Istanbul. June 20. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called on his Greek colleagues to abandon "provocative actions" in the Mediterranean.
"Greece needs to abandon provocative actions," Cavusoglu said at a press conference on the occasion of the end of the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya.
He also called for the development of new approaches that would help solve this issue.
The Turkish minister explained to reporters that Ankara and Athens had previously agreed that neither side would conduct exercises in the Aegean Sea during the holiday season. Meanwhile, according to Cavusoglu, the Greek side has already planned the exercises, thus violating the agreements.
The Greek side also periodically addresses such claims to Ankara. In particular, earlier in June, Athens announced aggressive actions in the Aegean Sea by the Turkish coast guard against a Greek coast guard ship.
In recent months, the situation in the eastern Mediterranean has become more complicated due to the intensification of Ankara's exploration activities in this area. Turkey is conducting oil and gas exploration in the waters that Greece and Cyprus consider their exclusive economic zone. This causes friction between Ankara and a number of EU countries.
Disputes on this topic provoked the growth of military tension between the two countries: each of them began to actively conduct exercises in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, strengthening its military presence there.
As a result, after a series of technical meetings between the Turkish and Greek militaries at NATO headquarters, a military mechanism was developed to resolve conflicts in the eastern Mediterranean.
Another issue that causes disagreements between Athens and Ankara is the fight against illegal immigration. Greece insists that Ankara accepts illegal immigrants who have reached the Greek territory through Turkey, without having any grounds for obtaining asylum.
