Greece won’t relinquish ‘inch’ of its rights
Greece wants to live peacefully with Turkey but will not “relinquish an inch” of its territorial rights, President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said on Friday during a speech in Thessaloniki.
Tensions between the two countries flared up after former foreign minister Nikos Kotzias said last week that the country was planning to extend its western territorial waters soon.
Ankara warned that it will take all necessary measures to protect its rights in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.
“Greece reserves the right to shield its islands and fully exercises all its sovereign rights, including the right to extend its territorial sea, based on international and European law,” Pavlopoulos said, adding the same is true for its exclusive economic zone.
“We invite Turkey to live in peace [with Greece], but we will not relinquish an inch of our rights,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Turkey said that it does not need lessons from Greece on how to delimit an exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy said Turkey will continue to act “in line with the equitable principles and all relevant special circumstances.”
“In this vein, there is no advice that we would get from Greece with regard to the delimitation techniques within the framework of international law,” he added.
On Thursday, the Greek Foreign Ministry described Turkey as a “violator of international law,” saying that the delimitation of the country’s EEZ shall be determined on the basis of international law and “certainly not by taking into account nonexistent and arbitrary theories adopted by Turkey.”
