Greece requested the European Union on Tuesday to hold an emergency meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers over Turkey’s continuous aggression in the southern Aegean and East Mediterranean Sea.
The decision was announced after a meeting of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis with Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.
Tensions between Athens and Ankara escalated on Monday after Turkey sent the seismic survey vessel Oruc Reis south of the island of Kastellorizo atop the Greek continental shelf.
At the same time, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced on Tuesday that Turkey will issue seismic exploration and drilling licenses in new areas of the Mediterranean by the end of August and continue its operations in the region.
The situation is “extremely worrying and needs to be solved in a dialogue,” a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
On Tuesday, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias met with American Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt in Athens about the ongoing situation in the Mediterranean. Ambassador Pyatt posted two messages on Twitter after the meeting.
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