Dendias: The letter to Borel may be the sign that tolerance is ending for Turkey

The question of fishing rights is not only a question of the countries, it is mainly European and we have an obligation to inform the EU of a practice which offends the European acquis, emphasizes in his statement the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias for his yesterday’s letter to the high representative of EU, Josep Borrell, on the illegal activity of Turkish fishing vessels.

“In the beginning, I described in the letter to Josep Borel a real situation. And since the question of fishing rights is not only a question of the countries, it is mainly a European question, I considered that we have an obligation to inform the EU about a practice, which creates problems in Greece, but damages the European environment as a whole and offends the European acquis Nikos Dendias specifically mentions.

Also, highlighting the importance of the letter, he underlines how it can work on Turkey’s side, as a sign that the tolerance of certain things is coming to an end.

According to diplomatic sources, in his letter, the Minister of Foreign Affairs was referring to the incident that took place on January 5, “in which a patrol boat of the Coast Guard, while performing an ordered service to identify three Turkish fishing boats that were fishing in the sea area southeast of Farmakonissi , within Greek territorial waters, was harassed by a Turkish vessel”.

“This repeated Turkish practice creates a dangerous security environment and increases the possibility of an ‘accident’, which could be used as a tool by Ankara in order to escalate the tension between Greece and Turkey”, said Mr. Dendias according to the same sources.

In addition, the letter recorded “the avoidance of cooperation and the often aggressive attitude on the part of Turkish fishermen, not only against Coast Guard vessels, but also against Greek fishing vessels, an attitude directed against the legal fishing activities of Greek fishermen.”

“It’s easy to see,” noted Mr. Dendias, “what the consequences of such a development will be for the wider region, but also for Euro-Turkish relations.”

The Greek foreign minister then referred to the aggressive rhetoric of Turkish officials “who, on an almost daily basis, launch, unprovoked, threats against Greece”.

“Combined with the incidents of questioning national sovereignty in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, it is clear that Turkey, with Illegal Poaching and IUU (IUU) fishing, is adding one more means to implement its revisionist policy and questioning status quo of the region,” the letter said.

On the occasion of the episode in question, according to the same information, Mr. Dendias stressed the need, “if Turkey continues the above practice, to take measures that will impose economic costs on Turkey and requests the implementation of Regulation (1005/2008) on combating IUU fishing, which provides that if a third country does not comply, it is designated as ‘non-cooperating’ and fishery products can be banned from the EU market.”

Such a reaction on the part of the EU, according to Mr. Dendias, “will send a resounding message to Ankara and demonstrate in practice the solidarity of the EU towards a member state, which on an almost daily basis faces the questioning of its sovereignty and threats of war ».

It is noted that yesterday Nikos Dendias sent the letter to the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Policy, and communicated it to the Vice President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, as well as to the Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginius Sinkevicius.

RES-EMP

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