Turkey Warns Greece, Tells It ‘Not To Raise Tensions in Region’

Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a spokesman for the ruling party have called on Greece to comply with the law and avoid actions that would raise tensions in the Mediterranean region, following reports of a Turkish research vessel’s activities being interfered in by Greece, the state-run Anadolu agency reported on Thursday.

According to reports, a Greek frigate attempted on Thursday morning to obstruct the activities of Turkish seismic and drilling vessel named Barbaros Hayrettin Pasa, which is tasked with researching the Turkish continental shelf.

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on the issue, saying “Greece should avoid acts that would raise tensions in the region.”

The statement added that Turkey would continue “exercising its sovereign rights and jurisdiction stemming from international law over its continental shelf.”

Omer Celik, a spokesman for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), also made a statement in a series of tweets, saying “The smartest way for Greece is to comply with the law and to avoid actions that would raise tensions.”

He also said that the country strongly supported the response to Greece’s harassing by security forces and would pursue its policies without compromise in order to protect the Turkish people’s interests.

Turkey has been opposing the Greek Cypriot’s unilateral drilling activity in the Eastern Mediterranean, claiming Turkish Cypriots also have rights to the resources around the area.

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