“The meeting between (Greek PM) Kyriakos Mitsotakis and (Turkish President) Tayyip Erdogan was a first step towards a calm summer,” was the phrase repeated government sources on Monday afternoon after the Greek and Turkish leaders met on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels.
The same sources, all on the Greek side, referred to a meeting held in a positive mood and an “agreement” of mutual understanding not to repeat the tension of 2020.
In a bid to “codify” the results of the meeting, government sources maintained that major differences still exist, especially the issue of delineating maritime regions between two east Mediterranean states.
Greece wants to resolve the issue of the Aegean’s continental shelf, and the even more ambitious delimitation of EEZs based on international law, primary the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and with exploratory contacts, possibly CBMs, leading up to resolution.
Turkey, conversely, which has neither signed or recognized UNCLOS as the instrument for delimitating maritime zones, wants “bilateral talks” to draw sea boundaries.
