New “cuffs” from the USA to Turkey for the Turko-Libyan memorandum – The Turks are “boiling” with the universal exclusion.
Turkey is on the verge of a stroke, the successive “slaps”, regarding the agreements it has signed with the Government of Tripoli.
After the UN and the US State Department, he declared last night that the Tripoli government is ad hoc and does not have the legitimacy to bind Libya to long-term agreements. Just like the Turkish-Libyan memorandum which is completely illegal.
“You cannot sign long-term agreements. The caretaker government of Libya is obliged not to consider new agreements that harm the stability of the foreign relations of the Libyan state or impose long-term obligations on it. We call on all parties to refrain from actions that risk escalating tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.”
The above development, combined with the continued negative attitude of the Americans to Turkey to upgrade its F-16s to Vipers, have caused discomfort in the neighboring country, as it is constantly isolated.
The above leads Turkey to an increasingly aggressive attitude towards Greece, with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu once again challenging the issue of the expansion of territorial waters.
While our country has the right from nautical miles to extend its waters to 12 (as defined by international law), the Turks insist on not accepting it.
During his participation in a panel on Turkish foreign policy, the Turkish foreign minister accused Greece of not being honest about issues in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, adding that Athens is “blocking the way to justice”.
Warning against the expansion of Greek territorial waters, Cavusoglu pointed out that Ankara “does not accept the fait accompli that has imprisoned it on its shores”, while adding that “Greek claims to airspace are paradoxical”.
“Let me make something clear: not only at 12 miles, we will not allow territorial waters to be unilaterally extended beyond 6 miles, not even one mile. It is not possible to allow even one more mile even if the extension is smaller. We do not accept a fait accompli that will turn the Aegean into a Greek lake, will trap us on our shores, will cause damage to our legitimate and vital interests. The decision taken by our Parliament on June 8, 1995 in response to this threat is still valid today,” he noted.
He continued, however, saying that this is not a threat of war, but about the “declaration of our determination that we will defend at any cost our rights and interests in the Aegean”.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey stated that “according to the maximalist positions of Greece, Turkey does not have a continental shelf in the Aegean. Because in their opinion the border should be between the islands and the mainland of Turkey. Our position is that the continental shelf should be determined between the continental countries and that no continental shelf should be given to the islands.”
He then repeated Ankara’s constant demand for the demilitarization of the islands. As he said, based on the treaties of Lausanne and Paris, the islands of the Eastern Aegean had been placed in a demilitarized regime and their sovereignty was given to Greece on the condition of the continuation of this regime.
“However, since 1960 Greece has been militarizing these islands. 16 of the 23 islands have been militarized. This is a threat to us. We ask Greece to respect the international treaties and return to the demilitarized regime.
Insisting on the same tone, Mevlut Cavusoglu even questioned Greek sovereignty over the islands, islets and islets that were not granted – as he said – by the treaties.
“Since the 1996 Imia crisis, we have been saying the following to Greece. We do not accept the situation on islands, islets and islets that were not clearly granted to you by the treaties. They have no legal effect. If Greece – along with the other issues – is ready to resolve these issues, we are also ready to resolve them peacefully. The warnings we are making today will be among the legal arguments when the day comes,” he argued.
