Dendias invokes international law in Twitter exchange with Turkish counterpart
Author: Urfi Ansari, Rizvi law College
Abstract
Greek Secretary of State Nikos Dendias has reacted to a tweet by his Turkish counterpart on recently urged that him to among them “stop inquiring for facilitate from others” and to “settle our variations equitably.”. “By the means that. There is one issue Mevlut you forgot to mention but again: it’s law. The only real basis for a constructive dialogue regarding our distinction, my dear friend. Happy 2021!” Dendias tweeted. On the preceding day, Cavusoglu reacted to comments by Dendias over the weekend among that he said that the European Council need to have gone any in penalizing Turkey over its prohibited activities among the Japanese Mediterranean. “Dear Niko, here’s some friendly recommendation for the year — stop inquiring for facilitate from others and injuring the Greek people’s dignity. May 2021 be the year once we have a tendency to settle our variations equitably by talking directly, sincerely, and seriously,” Cavusoglu said.
Dispute:
Greece called on its European partners to line clear limits on what actions they go to tolerate from Turkey within the increasingly tense eastern Mediterranean. “Europe cannot pretend that Turkey is acting as an acceptable player within the region,” minister Nikolaos Dendias. Greece expects world organization leaders to form clear that the bloc agrees that Turkish actions within the region are damaging. The EU will need new measures to curb Ankara’s “delinquent and provocative policy”[1] the minister said.
Tensions between Greece and Turkey are on top of usual since the summer, when Turkey started gas and oil searches in contested sections of the eastern sea. European leaders in October called on Ankara to abstain from unilateral hydrocarbon exploration in disputed waters, saying it’s in breach of law. Turkey nonetheless resumed the surveys, making any negotiation with Greece on delimitation of sea borders even more problematic.[2]“Certainly, we are during a critical moment in our relationship with Turkey,” EU policy tribal chief Borrell told the ECU Parliament session in Brussels. “Leaders will should take a decision” on whether to adopt more sanctions, he said. The EU Parliament on the very next day urged EU leaders in an exceedingly non-binding resolution “to take action and impose tough sanctions in response to Turkey’s illegal actions,” signaling the hardening mood in Europe toward Ankara before the bloc’s Dec. 10-11 summit[3].
“Europe must show the bounds of that behavior,” as it’s against everything the EU stands for, Dendias said within the interview. If action isn’t taken, other countries could conclude that they’re going to act with impunity and “Turkey will have the impression it can continue its current behavior with none restriction,” he said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country wants to interact with Europe. Speaking before a December EU summit, Erdogan said Turkey sees itself as “in Europe, not anywhere else, which we wish to create our future with Europe.”[4] If the cooperative signals from Ankara mark “the beginning of a complete change after all for Turkey, nobody is visiting to be happier than Greece,” Dendias said.
If Turkey abides by international norms, “no one will encourage it more.” Greek authorities have also asked European partners including Germany to halt weapons sales to Turkey. “Germany, because the most important country and economy of the EU, has the checks and balances in place to stop the necessity to export arms to countries that will turn them against two members of the EU,” Dendias said, pertaining to his country and to Cyprus. Greece has called on its European peers to respect the bloc’s mutual defense clause, which commits members to assist “by all means” if another EU state may well be a victim of armed aggression.
Greece also accuses Turkey of repeated violations of the EU-Turkey union through new tariffs. The Mediterranean dispute hinges partly on interpretations of law of countries. Greece maintains that islands must be taken into consideration in delineating a country’s seabed, in line with the worldwide organization Law of the ocean, which Turkey hasn’t signed. Ankara argues that a country’s seabed should be measured from its mainland, which the globe south of Kastellorizo — just a few kilometers off Turkey’s southern coast — falls within its exclusive economic zone.
The Greek government has said it’s able to talk with Turkey on maritime delimitation. If the two countries can’t reach an agreement, they need to refer the problem to the International Court of Justice, Athens says[5]. “If the Turkish side wants to hunt out solutions with Greece, this might be very easy,” Dendias said. “We have found solutions with all our other neighbors.” Meanwhile, with relation to the subsequent round of exploratory contacts between the two countries which should occur in Istanbul, Athens believes this might ideally occur at the highest of January. However, Greece isn’t ruling out that the invitation will precede the year, suggesting that the next round occur in early January. Per some sources, early January is additionally what’s wanted by Berlin, which has taken it upon itself to mediate the two countries.
Reference
[1] https://www.worldoil.com/news/2020/11/26/greece-wearies-of-turkey-s-provocative-energy-hunt-in-disputed-waters
[2]https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-26/greece-calls-on-europe-to-set-new-limits-to-keep-turkey-in-check
[3] https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RS21372.pdf
[4] https://www.ekathimerini.com/260523/article/ekathimerini/news/greek-turkish-fms-in-twitter-exchange
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