Top Turkish diplomat, NATO chief discuss E.Med

By Busra Nur Bilgic Cakmak

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish foreign minister and NATO secretary-general Friday discussed the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean over the phone.

Mevlut Cavusoglu and Jens Stoltenberg also discussed recent developments, according to diplomatic sources.

The Turkish foreign minister on Friday said his Greek counterpart denied agreeing to NATO’s proposal for an unconditional meeting on tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.

"It is noteworthy that Greece lied about NATO secretary-general [Jens Stoltenberg]. They [Athens] initially agreed [but] then told they did not. It is in fact Greece that is lying and not the secretary-general," Cavusoglu said at a press conference in the capital Ankara.

On Thursday, Stoltenberg announced that Turkey and Greece agreed to enter into technical talks at NATO to reduce the risk of incidents and accidents in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Greece has disputed Turkey's current energy exploration in the region, trying to box in Turkish maritime territory based on small islands near the Turkish coast.

Turkey -- the country with the longest coastline on the Mediterranean -- has sent out drill ships to explore for energy on its continental shelf, saying that Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have rights in the region.

Dialogue for fairly sharing these resources will be a win-win for all sides, say Turkish officials.