President Erdoğan and EU leader Michel discuss E. Mediterranean issues

 

In a phone call, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and European Council Charles Michel also spoke about regional issues.

Erdogan said Turkey wants to protect the rights of all countries and reach a win-win situation for everyone in the region.

Turkey will continue to protect Ankara’s rights against attempts to sideline it, the president added.

The conversation came ahead of Friday’s extraordinary European Union Foreign Affairs Council meeting to address recent Turkish-Greek tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Earlier this week, Turkey resumed energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean after Greece and Egypt signed a controversial maritime delimitation deal.

The agreement came only a day after Ankara said it would postpone its oil and gas exploration as a goodwill gesture.

But, after declaring the deal "null and void," Turkey authorized the Oruc Reis seismic research ship to continue its activities in an area within the country’s continental shelf.

The ship will continue the two-week mission until Aug. 23 along with the ships Cengiz Han and Ataman.

Erdoğan said the only solution to the dispute was through dialogue and negotiation, and urged Athens to respect Turkey’s rights.

Turkey has consistently opposed efforts for Greece to declare an exclusive economic zone based on small islands near Turkish shores, violating the interests of Turkey, the country with the longest coastline in the Mediterranean.