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28 August 2020 "We believe the sanctions on Turkey are absolutely necessary". This was stated by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, entering the second working day of the Gymnich, underway in Berlin since yesterday.   

"We are counting on European solidarity", he added to journalists before the launch of the informal ministerial of foreign ministers, which today will deal precisely with the crisis in the eastern Mediterranean.

Athens ratifies agreement with Egypt
Meanwhile, the Greek parliament has ratified the bilateral agreement with Egypt for the division into areas of exploitation of hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean, which puts Athens in conflict with Turkey. The agreement is in fact a response to the Ankara agreement in 2019 with the government of Tripoli, Libya, which projected a vast Turkish 'exclusive economic zone' in a segment of the Mediterranean towards the Libyan coast in addition to the area that Turkey it already considers its exclusive zone, north of the island of Cyprus, where huge oil and gas fields had previously been discovered.   

The ratification comes in the midst of tensions between Athens and Ankara, which has launched its challenge by sending the exploration ship Oruc Reis complete with an escort of military ships. 178 MPs out of the 300 that make up the parliament in Athens voted in favor of ratification.