Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday said Turkey should drop "threats" against his country if talks on reducing tension in the eastern Mediterranean are to begin.

"Let threats go away so that the contacts can begin," Mitsotakis said as he met a visiting senior member of the Chinese Communist party.

Mitsotakis said that Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias would later on Friday brief UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Turkey's "lawless activity".

Greece denied late Thursday that it had agreed to hold NATO-brokered talks with Turkey to de-escalate tensions over maritime borders and gas exploration rights.

"Published information claiming Greece and Turkey have agreed to hold so-called 'technical talks' on de-escalating tensions in the eastern Mediterranean do not correspond to reality," Greece's foreign ministry said.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg had earlier said the two NATO allies had "agreed to enter into technical talks at NATO to establish mechanisms for military de-confliction to reduce the risk of incidents and accidents in the Eastern Mediterranean".

The ministry stressed that "de-escalation will only take place with the immediate withdrawal of all Turkish vessels from the Greek continental shelf".

Tensions are running high over Turkey's drilling activities, which Greece and Cyprus say violate their sovereignty.

Turkey deployed the Oruc Reis research vessel and warships to the disputed waters on August 10 and has since prolonged the mission.

Greece responded by staging naval exercises with several EU allies and the United Arab Emirates, not far from smaller ones Turkey conducted between Cyprus and Crete last week.

The European Union has been watching the escalating row with growing concern, repeatedly urging Turkey to stop the exploration activities and threatening to slap sanctions on Ankara if it refused to solve the dispute through dialogue.

Mitsotakis said Turkey was "undermining" international law and "endangering" regional security by seeking to "alter" geography.

Related Links
All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Kushner visits UAE base where coveted F-35 jets deployed
Al Dhafra Air Base, UAE (AFP) Sept 1, 2020
White House advisor Jared Kushner visited a UAE air base Tuesday where the US operates F-35 fighter jets coveted by Abu Dhabi - the thorniest issue in the Emirates' newly established ties with Israel. Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, is in Abu Dhabi as part of a US-Israeli delegation that arrived on a historic direct flight from Tel Aviv Monday, to mark an accord struck last month to normalise relations between the Jewish state and the UAE. Israel has denied reports that the deal h ... read more