Turkey says it wants to resolve dispute with Greece through dialogue

Turkey’s Energy Minister Fatih Donmez tweeted Wednesday that Turkey plans to lay two cables, totaling 1,750 km in length, for seismic research for energy resources in the Mediterranean Sea by August 23.

The tweet came a day after Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias declared that Greece will not accept a fait accompli in the Eastern Mediterranean and called on the Turkish government to recall its research ship from the area.

Though the tweet inevitably served to fan the flames of the increasingly tense power struggle developing in the eastern Mediterranean since Ankara announced new seismic research activity in contested maritime areas with overlapping claims, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Wednesday that Turkey wants to resolve a dispute with Greece over energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean through dialogue.

“Despite all this, we want to believe that common sense will prevail. Both on the field and at the table, we side with international law, good neighborliness and dialogue,” Akar told Reuters. “We want to reach political solutions through peaceful means in line with international laws.”

Akar said Turkey would continue to defend its “rights, ties and interests” in coastal waters. “It should be known that our seas are our blue homeland. Every drop is valuable,” he said.

Turkey said its controlled escalation in the region came as a result of a maritime accord reached by Greece and Egypt on August 6, designating an exclusive economic zone between the two countries, and which Turkey said marked Greece’s breaking of a promise for a suspension of all energy designs by both parties in view of allowing way for Berlin-mediated diplomatic talks that would diffuse the situation.

According to Kathimerini Greece, Germany is once again rushing to diffuse the situation through behind-the-scenes attempts to get Greece and Turkey on the discussion table.