LOC22:29
19:29 GMT
KUWAIT, Aug 13 (KUNA) -- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Thursday for dialogue to resolve Turkey's fued with Greece and Cyprus over the Eastern Mediterranean waters.
Speaking to his AK ruling party on their 19-year anniversary, he accused both Greece and Cyprus of fueling tensions by disregarding the rights of Turkey and Turkish Cypriots, Anadolu reported.
Turkey's recent excavation of natural resources in the waters was conducted within the country's continental shelf, he suggested.
All of Turkey's activities in these waters are "legitimate," he argued, slamming recent action against his country by others as an attempt to besiege Turkey from the sea.
The matter was furthermore discussed in two phonecalls with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Council President Charles Michel.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who had also spoken to Merkel, urged Turkey to come to the negotiating table in "good faith" to resolve the two countries' sole dispute of the demarcation of territorial waters in the Aegean and Mediterranean.
German chancellor, Merkel, had led mediation efforts on the matter between the two countries in late July resulting in Ankara's decision to halt its excavations in the eastern Mediterranean.
But Turkey has resumed its activities after Greece and Egypt demarcated their maritime borders last Thursday.
The European Union Foreign Affairs Council is expected to hold an emergency meeting, requested by Greece, to further discuss the issue. (end)
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