A peaceful solution possible in Eastern Mediterranean dispute, Turkey says

“It is possible to solve problems peacefully in the Eastern Mediterranean. Fair, inclusive and rational approaches will contribute positively to the solution of problems,” Kalin noted.

Kalin also underlined that Turkey has no eyes on anyone's land, and is determined not to allow anyone violate its right and interests.

The Eastern Mediterranean dispute is a set of interrelated controversies between Greece and Turkey over sovereignty and related rights in the region of the Aegean Sea. This set of conflicts has strongly affected Greek-Turkish relations since the 1970s, and has twice led to crises coming close to the outbreak of military hostilities, in 1987 and in early 1996.

On the other hand, the Greek Cyprus and Turkey have been engaged in a dispute over the extent of their exclusive economic zones, ostensibly sparked by oil and gas exploration in the area. Turkey objects to Cypriot drilling in waters that Cyprus has asserted a claim to under international maritime law. The present maritime zones dispute touches on the perennial Cyprus and Aegean disputes; Turkey is the only member state of the United Nations that does not recognize Cyprus, and is one of the few not signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which Cyprus has signed and ratified.

Turkey claims a portion of Cyprus's EEZ based on Turkey's peculiar definition that no islands, including Cyprus, can have full EEZ and should only entitled to a 12 nautical mile reduced EEZ rather than the usual 200 that Turkey and other countries are entitled to, including an area to the south of Cyprus containing an offshore gas field. (ILKHA)