On Thursday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry criticized Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus decision to condemn Ankara’s offshore drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean. It said that Turkey “fully rejected the declaration containing baseless accusations and allegations.”
On Wednesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Greek Prime Minister Kyriacos Mitsotakis, and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades met for their eighth trilateral summit in Nicosia. During the meeting, the leaders evaluated the scope of their cooperation in various fields and followed up on pending joint projects. Indirectly accusing Turkey of stirring regional violence in his address, El-Sisi said that the three countries “have decided to counter acts of provocation and violations in the Middle East.”
The joint statement, which was released after the conclusion of the trilateral discussions, urged Ankara to halt its “aggressive” moves and enter negotiations with Cyprus for a deal on maritime delimitations. Cyprus and Greece have already signed bilateral border agreements with Cairo. They have also dismissed a similar agreement signed between Turkey and Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Accord as legally “null and void.” The leaders had also discussed Turkey’s involvement in Syria, condemning foreign intervention in the war-torn country. Further, the Cypriot president shed light on Turkish forces’ deployment of mercenaries in Libya and their decision to assist Azerbaijanis in their conflict with Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Meanwhile, PM Mitsotakis said that moves by the Turkish administration could eventually hurt its own people. “We don’t want to exclude Turkey but its practices lead to that action,” he said. Most recently, his government jointly announced that they would be taking their Ionian maritime border dispute with Albania to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for resolution, following a successful agreement between Greece and Italy in June. Currently, Athens’ maritime conflict with Turkey on the issue of economic zones and energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean has also become quickly militarized, as countries side with Greece to curb Turkish aggression. France sent ships and planes to the region in August, and Cyprus and Italy are also engaged in military exercises off the Cypriot coast.
In mid-September, following the return of the Turkish research vessel Oruç Reis to its port at Antalya from the disputed waters, Greek officials had signalled their readiness to enter exploratory talks with Ankara on the condition that it “disengage itself” from the crisis. Consequently, Turkey pulled the research ship back to shore for several weeks for maintenance and to allow time for diplomacy. However, soon after, Ankara redeployed the Oruç Reis on a new energy exploration mission. Simultaneously, on Tuesday, Greece ordered a 26-kilometre extension of a border wall along its Turkish frontier in an effort to deter migrants from entering the EU.
Turkey’s foreign ministry accused the three countries of attacking Ankara rather than being supportive of regional peace and stability. Its statement repeated the Turkish position that cooperation with Nicosia could only take place if Turkish Cypriots are included in governance and are given access to resources on the ethnically-split island. “We will continue with determination to protect our rights and the rights of Turkish Cypriots in the eastern Mediterranean,” the statement read.