Turkey to deliver note to UN, replying Greece

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Greek FM Avramopoulos issued a note to UN on Turkey’s exploration activites. REUTERS photo

Turkey will deliver a verbal note to the United Nations in reply to a recent Greek motion that argued that the areas Turkey had granted exploration permits in the Mediterranean were deemed to fall within the Greek continental shelf.

The note, which will be submitted in the near future, will say the Greek claims have no ground under international law.

Ankara’s note to the U.N. will stress that the licenses that Turkey has given to the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) since 2007 are within the boundaries of the Turkish continental shelf in the eastern Mediterranean.

It will also express that Turkey has sovereign rights concerning exploration and drilling for natural resources in these fields that it will continue under international law.

Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos said the areas in which Turkey had granted exploration permits in the Mediterranean were deemed to fall within the Greek continental shelf. Greek officials informed their Turkish counterparts before they submitted the verbal note to the U.N. However, Greece failed to respond to Ankara’s warning to the Greek government to avoid taking such a step.

The Greek initiative at the U.N., which came ahead of the High-Level Cooperation Council meeting between Athens and Ankara, is seen by Turkey as the new Greek government’s move to satisfy their public over promises given in their election campaign.