[[{"content_id":"5739","domain_id":"0","lang_id":"en","portal_id":"2","owner_id":"83","user_id":"7","view_accesslevel_id":"0","edit_accesslevel_id":"0","delete_accesslevel_id":"0","editor_id":"0","content_title":"Greece says ready for conditional de-escalation with Turkey in Mediterranean","content_number":"","content_date_event":"2020-08-27 12:59:32","content_summary":"Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis says Athens is ready for a \u201csignificant de-escalation\u201d in the eastern Mediterranean if Turkey stops its \u201cprovocative actions\u201d in the area.","content_summary_fill":"1","content_body":"In a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Mitsotakis offered to de-escalate “on the condition that Turkey immediately stops its provocative actions.”\r\n\r\nTurkey and Greece have been at loggerheads over oil and gas exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkey has dispatched a seismic research vessel — and warships to escort it — to an area in the sea that is disputed with Greece.\r\n\r\nGreek naval vessels have been shadowing the Turkish ships. Earlier, one Greek and one Turkish naval vessel were involved in a minor collision.\r\n\r\nGermany, meanwhile, has been mediating to defuse the tensions between Turkey and Greece.\r\n\r\nOn Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after a meeting with visiting German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas that Ankara was ready for talks with Athens without any preconditions.\r\n\r\n“We are in favor of negotiations for fair sharing but nobody should lay down preconditions. This cannot happen with preconditions laid down by Greece,” Cavusoglu said.\r\n\r\nTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said on Wednesday that his country would not give up “what it deserves” in the Mediterranean Sea, threatening Greece with “ruin.”\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nSeparately on Wednesday, Greece and its European Union (EU) allies France, Italy, and Cyprus held military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean while Turkey carried out its own with the US Navy nearby.\r\n\r\nMass, who visited both Greece and Turkey, said the dispute between the two countries, both of them NATO members, had now entered a “very critical” phase, criticizing the joint naval drills by the US and Turkey as “not helpful.”\r\n\r\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said he is “personally regularly in contact with Ankara and Athens.”\r\n\r\nFrance has been more assertive against Turkey. The Mediterranean “should not be a playground for the ambitions of some — it’s a shared asset,” French Defense Minister Florence Parly tweeted earlier, in an apparent reference to Turkey.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, an informal EU foreign ministerial meeting is scheduled in the German capital, Berlin, for Thursday and Friday. Greece is expected to press the bloc to impose sanctions on Turkey.\r\n\r\nGreece and Turkey almost went to war in 1974 over Cyprus, which has since been divided, with the northern third run by a Turkish Cypriot administration recognized only by Turkey and the southern two-thirds governed by the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot government.","content_html":"

In a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Mitsotakis offered to de-escalate \u201con the condition that Turkey immediately stops its provocative actions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Turkey and Greece have been at loggerheads over oil and gas exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkey has dispatched a seismic research vessel \u2014 and warships to escort it \u2014 to an area in the sea that is disputed with Greece.<\/p>\n\n

Greek naval vessels have been shadowing the Turkish ships. Earlier, one Greek and one Turkish naval vessel were involved in a minor collision.<\/p>\n\n

Germany, meanwhile, has been mediating to defuse the tensions between Turkey and Greece.<\/p>\n\n

On Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after a meeting with visiting German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas that Ankara was ready for talks with Athens without any preconditions.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe are in favor of negotiations for fair sharing but nobody should lay down preconditions. This cannot happen with preconditions laid down by Greece,\u201d Cavusoglu said.<\/p>\n\n

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said on Wednesday that his country would not give up \u201cwhat it deserves\u201d in the Mediterranean Sea, threatening Greece with \u201cruin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Separately on Wednesday, Greece and its European Union (EU) allies France, Italy, and Cyprus held military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean while Turkey carried out its own with the US Navy nearby.<\/p>\n\n

Mass, who visited both Greece and Turkey, said the dispute between the two countries, both of them NATO members, had now entered a \u201cvery critical\u201d phase, criticizing the joint naval drills by the US and Turkey as \u201cnot helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said he is \u201cpersonally regularly in contact with Ankara and Athens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

France has been more assertive against Turkey. The Mediterranean \u201cshould not be a playground for the ambitions of some \u2014 it\u2019s a shared asset,\u201d French Defense Minister Florence Parly tweeted earlier, in an apparent reference to Turkey.<\/p>\n\n

Meanwhile, an informal EU foreign ministerial meeting is scheduled in the German capital, Berlin, for Thursday and Friday. Greece is expected to press the bloc to impose sanctions on Turkey.<\/p>\n\n

Greece and Turkey almost went to war in 1974 over Cyprus, which has since been divided, with the northern third run by a Turkish Cypriot administration recognized only by Turkey and the southern two-thirds governed by the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot government.<\/p>","content_source":"","content_url":"","content_columns":"0","content_date_start":"2020-08-27 12:59:32","content_date_finish":"2020-08-27 12:59:32","content_date_register":"2020-08-27 13:00:49","content_date_last_edit":"2020-08-27 13:00:49","content_show_img":"1","content_show_details":"0","content_show_related_img":"0","content_show_slider":"1","content_show_title_slider":"1","content_comment":"1","content_score":"0","content_recorded":"0","content_confirmed":"0","content_status":"1","content_kind":"0","tag_id":"15419","tag_word":"Turkey,Greece,Mediterranean","tag_service":"0","tag_total":"31","tag_soundex":"","attach_token":"3402363090","attach_date_register":"2020-08-27 13:00:48","attach_id":"9709","attach_file_ext":"jpg","attach_file_header":"image\/jpeg","attach_img_type":"2","attach_img_width":"1000","attach_img_height":"555","attach_file_media":"1","attach_show_watermark":"0","score_average":null,"score_count":null,"score_date_last":null,"visit_count":"375","visit_date_last":"2024-11-02 14:12:49","attach_title":"Greece says ready for conditional de-escalation with Turkey in Mediterranean\n 2","node_title":"News","ot_node_left_right":"[{\"node_id\":98, \"left\":2, \"right\":11}]","node_number":"3","allowable_node":"3"}]]