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Greek president lambasts Turkey over maritime borders deal

Greek president lambasts Turkey over maritime borders deal

Greece wants good neighborly relations with Turkey and is in favor of its European prospects, but Turkey also has to show that it is committed to this path, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said on Tuesday, accusing Ankara of “not respecting the fundamental principles on which its European aspirations ought to be based.”

Greece will defend its borders, its territory and its exclusive economic zone, which are also the European Union’s border and EEZ, with the help of the international community and the EU, Pavlopoulos stressed during talks with his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, who is on a two-day visit to Athens.

Turkey’s recent controversial agreement with Libya on maritime borders in the Eastern Mediterranean is not only illegal and irregular, said Pavlopoulos, a lawyer, it is also “without foundation.”

The memorandum of understanding signed between Ankara and the Tripoli-based government in Libya lacks the basic requirements for such an agreement, Pavlopoulos added, also pointing to opposition against the deal from the president of the Libyan parliament.

The MoU violates every principle of the Law of the Sea and ignores the existence of Rhodes and Crete, the Greek president said, adding that it consists only of “Turkey’s thoughts on how it imagines its imperialist fantasies.”

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