Erdogan Urges Talks To Defuse Gas Row With Greece

Ankara, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Aug, 2020 ) :Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for dialogue on Monday while still pushing ahead with a contentious Mediterranean gas development plan that has outraged Greece and alarmed NATO and the EU.

The budding row over suspected reserves in the eastern Mediterranean Sea pits a range of regional powers in a confrontation watched with worry in Brussels and Washington.

Turkey dispatched a research ship to the region on Monday -- just three days after Erdogan said he was tired of waiting for the outcome of sporadic talks held in the past month with Greece and EU powerhouse Germany.

The vessel's arrival in an disputed area near the island of Meis (Kastellorizo in Greek) prompted Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday to confer with his military chiefs.

Mitsotakis took no action but the Greek foreign ministry called the ship's arrival a "serious escalation" that "exposed" Turkey's "destabilising role".

Erdogan sounded a slightly more conciliatory note after a meeting with his own ministers later Monday.

"Let us all come together as Mediterranean countries and find a formula that protects all of our rights," Erdogan said in a national address.

But Erdogan added: "We cannot allow (nations) to ignore a big country like Turkey and try to imprison us to our shores."