Alternate Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said "There is no such topic" regarding the possibility of joint exploitation of the Aegean with Turkey, when speaking on Tuesday to Real FM.
Varvitsiotis repeated the standing Greek position that the continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone must be delineated via the joint recourse of Greece and Turkey to the international court at The Hague.
"There is no other way and this has been Greece's fixed position since 1975," he added.
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Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said in February that his country is in favour of a joint exploitation of “the riches of the Aegean” with Greece, following talks with his Greek counterpart Nikos Panagiotopoulos in Brussels.
“We are holding our talks sincerely, openly, honestly and transparently,” he told journalists after NATO’s Extraordinary Meeting of Defence Ministers.
“This is important in terms of the prosperity of the people of the two countries and the sharing of the beauties and riches of the Aegean. There are tourism, fishing and many other riches. We are in favor of using these together, we said this,” Akar said.
“We have received a positive response from our interlocutor in this sense. We expect them to move forward in this direction. We are constructive, positive, this is our approach.”
Greece’s Defence Ministry said the two officials agreed on a fourth round of talks on Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) and reducing tensions in the region.
It also said the two sides discussed establishing a climate of security, based on the rule of international law and the principles of good neighbor relations,
Akar stated that they were waiting for the Greek delegation to Ankara for the CBM meeting. “We are constructive towards Greece, we are positive.”
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