Egypt and Greece announced today, Thursday, the signing of an agreement to demarcate the maritime borders between the two countries, including defining the exclusive economic zones for each of them in the Mediterranean, while Turkey issued a statement on its position on this agreement.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that the relations between his country and Greece entered a new and important stage after the signing of the agreement.
He added that the agreement reflects the political will of Cairo and Athens to consolidate military, political and energy cooperation between the two countries.
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dundas said that the agreement to demarcate the maritime borders between his country and Egypt is in accordance with international laws.
Dundias attacked the Memorandum of Understanding between Turkey and the Libyan Accord government on maritime borders, calling it an illegal agreement that does not exist.
For its part, the Turkish Foreign Ministry considered that there is no value to the agreement to demarcate the maritime borders concluded today between Egypt and Greece.
She said that Ankara considers this agreement "as if it were not because there are no maritime borders between Greece and Egypt, and Turkey will act according to this concept in the field and on the table."
The statement pointed out that this agreement causes Egypt to lose 11,500 square kilometers of its lands, just as it lost another area when it concluded an agreement with South Cyprus in 2003, "and thus this agreement leads to an attempt to usurp the rights of Libya as well."
The statement stressed that "Turkey will not allow any activities in the aforementioned region, and no one doubts that Turkey will continue resolutely to defend its rights and the legitimate rights of Turkish Cypriots and their interests in the eastern Mediterranean."
The statement indicated that the alleged area lies within the Turkish continental shelf, which was reported to the United Nations by Ankara.