Cavusoglu reiterates claims of 'grey zones' in Aegean

Turkey's Foreign Minister reiterated his country's long-standing claims on the existence of "grey zones" in the Aegean Sea in a televised interview on CNN Turk on Thursday evening.
Mevlut Cavusoglu said "there are islands whose sovereignty has not been established" either in the Treaty of Lausanne or in the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty.

This is the reason that Ankara is calling for "exploratory talks to resolve these issues" and to avoid a repetition of a crisis like the one over the islets of Imia (known as Kardak in Turkish).

Cavusoglu was referring to the 1996 incident when the two NATO allies came to the brink of war over the ownership of the uninhabited islets.

Asked about the Eastern Mediterranean project, he said that for the pipeline to cross the Aegean "they will have to ask for our permission."

"Without Turkey's approval, this project cannot...

Continue reading on: