Turkey says it will license new Mediterranean areas this month

Turkey will issue seismic exploration and drilling licenses in new areas of the eastern Mediterranean by the end of August and continue its operations in the region, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday, amid tensions with Greece.

NATO allies Turkey and Greece are at odds over overlapping claims for hydrocarbon resources in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkey sent a vessel on Monday to conduct a seismic survey in a disputed area in the region, a move which Greece said was illegal and stoked tensions.

Speaking at a news conference in Ankara, Cavusoglu said Turkey would issue new licenses for operations near the western borders of its continental shelf and continue "all sorts of seismic and drilling operations" in the area.

Greece to ask for emergency EU foreign affairs meeting

Greece will ask for an emergency meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council as tensions with Turkey over maritime borders increased after Ankara sent a survey ship south of Kastellorizo.

The decision was announced after a meeting of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis with Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.