The Greek government on Monday called the Turkish ambassador in the country to the foreign ministry and handed him a demarche sharply criticizing what sources called the latest provocation by Ankara, namely, publication in the Turkish government gazette of a series of applications to the state-run petroleum company for exploration licenses in sea regions claimed by Athens as part of its Exclusive Economic Zone.
The applications come months after Turkey, which refuses to sign or recognize the UN Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) and the shaky Libyan government that controls only a portion of the North Africa country signed an agreement delimitating the entire central Mediterranean between them, and “erasing” every Greek island territory in the process – the most egregious example of “Turkography” in many decades.
Earlier, Greek FM Nikos Dendias warned that Ankara was trying to appropriate Greek sovereign rights, one step at a time.
