It hasn’t worked yet, but Greece is holding to a strategy of trying to build international support against Turkish provocations in the seas after Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he believed “goodwill” would prevail.
That comes after Turkey signed a deal with Libya dividing the seas between them and claiming Greek waters, planning to drill for energy off Crete and encroaching on Rhodes, with Mitsotakis getting only moral support from the European Union.
Turkey has been apparently emboldened by the lack of response to sending ships to hunt for oil and gas off Cyprus with the EU imposing only soft sanctions, fearful to get tougher because Erdogan said he would flood the bloc with millions more refugees and migrants, through already-overwhelmed Greek islands.
In a feature, EURACTIV said the Turkey-Libya deal has shaken up politics in the Mediterranean, with Greece fearing Turkey – which sent the agreement to the United Nations, asking for ratification – wants to create a legal precedent with no legal standing.
Turkey doesn’t recognize parts of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) nor the UN’s Law of the Sea unless invoking it in its favor and also disputes the Continental Shelf under the seas between Greece and Turkey.
With the EU unwilling to do anything more than issue press releases denouncing the deal, Mitsotakis is looking around for other friends, especially French President Emmanual Macron as the French energy company Total is drilling off Cyprus.
SKAI TV in Greece said Mitsotakis wants to create a diplomatic shield and isolate Turkey with no explanation of how that would stop Erdogan who has forged ahead in defiance of Greece, Cyprus, and the EU, with the UN and NATO staying out of the fray.
Energy has become a catalyst and a thriller because of the potential for vast revenues from oil and gas and led Greece, Israel, and Cyprus to align against Turkey in plans to create the so-called EastMed pipeline to bring energy to the EU, although there are no investors yet.
The line is designed to transport gas from offshore gas reserves between Israel and Cyprus to Greece, and then on to Italy and other southeastern European countries and a political deal is set to be signed on Jan. 2.
Mitsotakis spoke on the phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Greek media reported the two foreign ministries will have technical-level discussions over the issue on Jan. 8 although Italy is reluctant to take part.
SKAI, citing sources it didn’t name, said that Greece wants to keep lines of communication with Italy, whose energy company Eni is also drilling off Cyprus but said it would halt the operation if it would create a conflict with Turkish warships nearby.
Read more at thenationalherald.com
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC-BY-SA Copyright: Lfdder
