Erdoğan, Merkel discuss east Med via video link

ANKARA- Anadolu Agency

Turkey's president on Sept. 3 spoke to Germany's chancellor via video link, criticizing as "unacceptable" some countries' support for Greece's selfish and unfair attitude.

During the call with Angela Merkel, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration and other countries that backed the two, were causing deadlock and escalating tensions.

He also welcomed Merkel's efforts to resolve disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean caused by Greece and its backers.

Besides the Eastern Mediterranean, the two also discussed other regional issues, as well as bilateral relations.

Greece has attempted to illegally restrict Turkey's maritime territory, trying to box it in to its shores based on small Greek islands near the Turkish coast.

Turkey has argued the sides should instead sit down for dialogue to reach a win-win solution based on fair sharing.

Greece has also recently carried out military drills - including with France - meant to intimidate Turkey into stopping energy exploration, and has illegally armed Aegean islands in violation of longstanding peace treaties.

Athens' recent maritime delimitation agreement with Egypt also violates Turkey's continental shelf and maritime rights, sparking further tensions between the two neighbors.

Top Turkish, US officials discuss East Med over phone

Meanwhile, senior officials from Turkey and the U.S. held a phone call Sept. 3 on various issues including recent developments in the Eastern Mediterranean.

According to a statement by Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalın, he told U.S. National Security Advisor Robert C. O'Brien that Ankara did not desire an escalation in its dispute with other countries in the region.

Rather it supports a model under which all sides could equitably share the region and its resources in a fair way, as President Erdoğan has previously proposed, said the statement.

Kalın also underlined that Greece's unilateral and maximalist policy, which has served to escalate tensions and ignored international law, is unacceptable and that such approaches should be avoided for there to be a political solution.

Stressing Turkey's determination to protect its rights and those of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the Eastern Mediterranean, he also said all of effort will be made to make the Mediterranean a "sea of peace."

Kalın and O'Brien also discussed bilateral relations and regional issues, the statement added.