Ankara announced planned maneuvers in the Mediterranean, in which Northern Cyprus forces will participate, while the Turkish president confirmed his country's ability to tear up what he described as unfair documents and maps against it, in light of escalating tension with Greece.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech during the inauguration of a medical city in Istanbul today, Saturday, that Turkey is ready to share rights according to fair agreements and conditions, but it is ready, people and government, for all possibilities in all platforms and forums.
He said that everyone understands that Turkey is politically, economically and militarily capable of "tearing apart unfair documents and maps based on immorality and quibbling against it."
He added that his country is ready to clarify this "by going through painful experiences, whether at the negotiating table or in the field."
The Al-Jazeera correspondent in Turkey, Al-Mu`taz Allah Hasan, said that Ankara reiterates its rejection of the Greek and Western efforts to impose specific maps in the eastern Mediterranean that deny Turkey economic rights, under the pretext that the continental shelf of Greece extends up to two kilometers off the Turkish coast.
Argument Maps
The reporter - who is currently in the town of Kas on the Turkish coast off the Greek island of Mis - indicated that this lawsuit is based on the presence of Greek islands, including Mays, at a very close distance from Turkish territory.
He added that Ankara rejects these claims as unfair because it limits Turkey and its economic rights to an indefinite space off its coast, noting that some Turkish officials have recently spoken about maps to be imposed over the next 100 years, just as previous maps were imposed in the last century.
Medium storm
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense stated that the Turkish Armed Forces and the Peace Forces Command in Northern Cyprus intend to hold exercises in the Mediterranean.
The ministry said that the exercises with Northern Cyprus will take place between 6 and 10 September, under the name of the Mediterranean Sea Storm.
And it indicated in a statement that these annual exercises between the two countries include exercises for the naval and air forces, coinciding with maneuvers of the land forces.
This comes at a time when NATO and the European Union are trying to de-escalate the escalation, while the Turkish army announced that it continues to assume its responsibilities and perform its duties in the eastern Mediterranean, and supports dialogue at the same time.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the Secretary-General of NATO announced an initiative to hold meetings between the Turkish and Greek military, against the backdrop of tension in the eastern Mediterranean, and that his country supports this initiative.
Akar stressed that the armed forces will protect the rights and interests of Turkey in accordance with international laws, noting that Greece has armed 16 islands in the Aegean Sea in a step that violates the Lausanne Agreement.
A recently spotted photo of Greek soldiers on an island near the Turkish coast (communication sites)
Greece is communicating with NATO and Washington
According to Greek media, the Greek foreign minister will hold contacts with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
The Greek foreign minister had held talks by phone with US Assistant Secretary of State Philip Reeker.
Greek newspapers quoted him as saying after those talks that the Americans are intensifying efforts to reduce tensions, and that a set of indications show that the American side is following a pro-country approach.
The Greek foreign minister said after telephone conversations with the Secretary-General of the United Nations that negotiations with Turkey could take place as soon as the Turkish ships leave the Greek continental shelf.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced earlier that the two countries "agreed to enter into technical talks at the headquarters of the alliance to put in place a mechanism in order to prevent any military conflict and reduce the possibility of accidents in the eastern Mediterranean."
But Greece denied Thursday that it had agreed to hold talks sponsored by NATO with Turkey to de-escalate tensions over maritime borders and gas exploration rights.
The Greek Foreign Ministry said that the published information claiming that Greece and Turkey had agreed to hold what it called "technical talks" to reduce the escalation of tension in the eastern Mediterranean did not match the truth.
Commenting on this, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşolu said that Greece had lied about the NATO Secretary-General’s initiative, which it had agreed at the beginning before backing down later.
French, Emirati and Egyptian roles
On the other hand, the Emirates News Agency said that the Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry discussed, during a phone call, the situation in the eastern Mediterranean region.
On the French presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that "France has no relationship with the region, it has no borders, it has no representation in the concluded agreements, and it has no authority to represent NATO or the European Union."
"(France) came from thousands of kilometers away to speak about principles and allegations in several cases," he added, noting that it had brought its military equipment to the region and participated in several maneuvers.
He said, "It does so in the name (under the pretext of) reducing tension, on the contrary, it increases tension, and they know that what they are doing is wrong." .
He stressed that France "believes that it can do what it likes not only in the eastern Mediterranean, but also makes statements from Iraq," warning that "these matters do not serve peace and dialogue, and are not in harmony with the spirit of the alliance (NATO), rather they are emotional behavior," For your information, these steps have no results. "
The Defense Minister called for a reflection on the two-sided policy of France and President Emmanuel Macron, noting that the latter had described in previous statements NATO as "clinically dead" and then hid behind the alliance and behind the European Union.
He also pointed out that Macron considers directing insults to the noble Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace) "freedom of expression," but he does not tolerate an innocent question from a journalist, referring to the French president's rebuke of a journalist from "Le Figaro."