Greece, US ministers to discuss Eastern Mediterranean tensions

ATHENS: The foreign ministers of Greece and the United States will meet in Vienna on Friday to discuss tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Greek foreign ministry said, amid a dispute between Athens and Ankara over hydrocarbon resources. The meeting between Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo comes days after Turkey dispatched the seismic survey vessel Oruc Reis to an area of sea claimed by both nations, saying it will operate there until Aug. 23. Turkey has said it plans to issue gas exploration and drilling licences in the region, somewhere between the Greek island of Crete and Cyprus, this month.

NATO allies Greece and Turkey vehemently disagree about their overlapping claims on hydrocarbon resources in the eastern Meditteranean, based on conflicting views of how far their continental shelves extend in waters dotted with islands. Turkey's latest moves, days after Greece signed a maritime deal with Egypt which angered Ankara, have further raised tensions with its neighbour, ending a brief period of calm brokered by Germany. Dendias urged Turkey on Tuesday to "immediately leave the Greek continental shelf" saying the country was determined to defend its sovereign rights. Athens has also called for an emergency EU meeting to address the issue.

An extraordinary EU foreign ministers' meeting has been set for Friday at 1300 GMT, and will be held via teleconferene. The United States has appealed for a resumption of direct talks between Turkey and Greece, which Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said had been under way for two months until they were broken off last week. Turkey said the deal with Egypt - which Greek diplomats said effectively nullified an accord between Turkey and the internationally recognised government of Libya - showed it could not trust Athens, and vowed to continue surveying waters that are also claimed by Greece and Cyprus.