Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused Greece on Tuesday of continuing “provocative” steps despite diplomatic efforts made by Ankara.
In a joint news conference with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto in Ankara, Cavusoglu said “problems with the EU can only be solved if they act with common sense at the EU summit and later.”
The top Turkish diplomat went on to say that Ankara expects the EU to act as an objective mediator in the dispute.
EU foreign ministers said on Monday that Turkey had failed to help resolve a dispute with Greece and Cyprus over drilling for natural gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean.
They added, however, that any decision on retaliatory sanctions will be made at an EU summit on 10-11 December.
On the same day, Daily Sabah published a video message from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, emphasizing that Ankara will not tolerate any attempts made by other countries in order to confine Turkey “to the Antalya bay in Eastern Mediterranean”.
He also said that if Greece wants a lasting solution to the eastern Mediterranean issue, it should rely on diplomacy.
Source: Sputnik
