Ankara annoyed by the Greek-Egyptian agreement: “Futile and self-destructive effort”

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“It is a serious contradiction that a country that repels innocent refugees in the Aegean in violation of international law and endangers their lives, concludes a memorandum of understanding for search and rescue” claims the representative of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

For “memorandum of understanding for research and rescue from a country that repels innocent refugees” and “a futile and self-destructive effort in the context of anti-Turkish sentiment”, says Ankara, unable to hide its annoyance at the new Greek-Egyptian agreement signed on Tuesday in Cairo.

“It is a serious contradiction that a country that repels innocent refugees in the Aegean in violation of international law and endangers their lives, concludes a memorandum of understanding for search and rescue in the Eastern Mediterranean” claims the representative of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tanzu Bilgic, according to SKAI’s correspondent in Constantinople, Manolis Kostidis, while he also involves the Libya incident in his statements, even though there was a period of preparation for the Athens-Egypt agreement.

“Turkey will continue to resolutely protect both its own rights and the rights of the TRNC” states the representative of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The announcement of the Turkish Foreign Ministry in detail

“Search and rescue areas at sea are service areas for saving human lives. These areas are not sovereign areas under international law.

The rules for search and rescue areas are set by the Hamburg Convention of 1979. According to the convention, countries are required to cooperate in the event that service areas overlap.

The sea search and rescue zones declared by Turkey and Greece in the Aegean and Mediterranean and notified to the International Maritime Organization overlap with each other. Greece has always refrained from cooperating with our country on this issue and has also rejected the agreement proposals we have made in the past. The reason for this is that Greece claims that search and rescue areas are under its sovereignty and links them to maximalist claims of maritime jurisdiction.

This approach of Greece is contrary to the Hamburg Convention of 1979 and constitutes an illegal position.

Therefore, it is not possible to attribute meaning beyond these facts to the memorandum of understanding signed between Greece and Egypt. On the other hand, it is a serious contradiction that a country that pushes back innocent refugees in the Aegean in violation of international law and endangers their lives, concludes a memorandum of understanding for search and rescue in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In fact, the main motivation behind Greece signing this memorandum of understanding is its desire to cover up these events and the latest scandal it caused in Libya.

The attempt to shape Greece’s internal and external policy in the context of anti-Turkish sentiment is only a futile and self-destructive attempt.

Turkey will continue to resolutely protect both its own rights and those of the TRNC by increasing its cooperation and coordination with all key stakeholders in the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond. The recent worsening of Greece’s balance is probably due to this.”

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