Ekathimerini
Turkey has forwarded a note
verbale to the United Nations in response to a Greek one sent to the
international organization on February 20, the Greek Foreign Ministry announced
late on Tuesday.
According to the Greek Foreign
Ministry, the Turkish verbal note challenges the right of the Greek islands to
a continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, in violation of article 121 of
the Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Athens had submitted a verbal
note to the UN notifying international officials of Turkey’s granting of
exploration permits for areas deemed to cover the Greek continental shelf.
At the time Turkey’s Foreign
Ministry had issued a statement defending its decision, noting that the permits
that had been issued since 2007 to the state-owned oil company TRAO concerned
territories within boundaries of the Turkish continental shelf in the Eastern
Mediterranean.
