Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on Monday accused Turkey of acting like the region’s troublemaker but said his country has no intention of responding in kind, the English-language edition of the Greek Kathimerini newspaper reported.
Speaking on Alpha radio, Dendias was referring to a continuing escalation of tensions with Turkey, hours after Greek media published a weekend photograph of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in front of a map showing Turkey’s territorial waters extending nearly halfway across the Aegean Sea.
Dismissing the photograph as a “public relations stunt,” Dendias said Turkey’s opinions belong to a “minority of one” and that such antics simply “establish Turkey’s image as a culprit.”
“States’ borders are not defined by whatever map some ministry decides to draw, but on the basis of international law,” Denidias said, referring to the photograph of Erdoğan at the National Defense University in İstanbul.
Dendias also took Turkey to task over its ongoing violations of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone in its search for hydrocarbon deposits.
“Cyprus is an independent EU state. It is clear that along with its sovereignty Turkey is also violating the Republic of Cyprus’ sovereign rights. We hope Turkey falls in line,” he said.