Turkish note to UN on Aegean ‘riven with errors,’ say Greek sources
Greek diplomatic sources on Wednesday criticized a note verbale sent by Turkey to the United Nations in response to a diplomatic message sent by Greece to the UN last month, describing the Turkish document as “riven with inaccuracies” and “legally ridiculous.”
According to sources at the Greek Foreign Ministry, the Turkish note verbale invokes aspects of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea when they support Ankara’s positions and ignores them when they do not.
According to diplomatic sources, the Turkish note verbale challenges Greece’s sovereign rights south of Rhodes and Kastellorizo and the right of the Greek islands to a continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, claiming that the Aegean should be treated as a special case as the islands are so close to the Turkish coast. It also defends Ankara’s decision to grant oil and gas exploration rights for areas deemed to fall within the Greek continental shelf.
