Law of the sea

A crucial and recurring question posed with every Greek-Turkish crisis is: How will Greece manage to contain Ankara's aggression? Athens must certainly not give in to the provocations. At the same time, it must safeguard its sovereign rights.

Israel has expressed its solidarity with Greece amid a sharp increase in tensions with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

"Israel is cautiously monitoring the increase in tension in the Eastern Mediterranean," the country's embassy in Athens said in a statement posted on Twitter on Wednesday morning.

Ankara has used contradictory language over the last 24 hours regarding the Greece-Italy agreement for the delimitation of the countries' maritime zones in the Ionian Sea. 

The Greek government is scurrying to close an EEZ delimitation deals with Egypt and Albania after having cut a deal with Italy, thus resolving a deadlock of over four decades.

Athens has accused Ankara of adopting a "selective interpretation" of international law after the country's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said that an agreement between Greece and Italy on maritime boundaries had confirmed the validity of Turkey's claims regarding maritime accords.

The Greece-Italy agreement delimiting the two countries' Exclusive Economic Zones is undoubtedly a milestone in Greek foreign policy.

The reason is that it not only resolves an issue that has festered for 43 years but also because it sends a resounding message to Ankara that Greece will not only invoke international law but is also prepared and determined to enforce it.

Greece and Italy on June 9 signed an accord on maritime boundaries to establish an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between the two countries.

The agreement was signed during Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio's visit to the Greek capital Athens.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias has said he will travel to Cairo on June 18 to resume talks with Egyptian officials on demarcating maritime boundaries between the two countries.

Athens and Rome are expected to sign an agreement delimiting an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Greece and Italy on Tuesday.

The deal will be signed at a meeting in Athens between Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio, after concerns expressed by Rome were addressed and resolved, mainly concerning fishing rights in the Ionian Sea.

An article by Vassilis Nedos which appeared in Kathimerini's Sunday edition on May 10, titled "Ankara's militarization on Athens' radar," refers to Rear Admiral Cihat Yayci's book "Requirements of Greece: The Problems in the Aegean with Questions and Answers," which was published recently by the Turkish Navy.