Rising tensions: Greek Prime Minister Urges Turkey to Stop Threats

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday that Turkey must stop “threats”.

His statement is made after NATO warnings that the two countries have agreed to launch dialogue on lowering tension in the eastern Mediterranean.

“Threats must be deleted so that contacts can begin”, Mitsotakis said.

He said Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias will inform UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Turkey's “illegal activity” later Friday.

Greece denied late Thursday that it had agreed to hold talks with NATO-brokered Turkey to reduce tensions over maritime borders and oil and research rights in the region.

The published “Information claiming Greece and Turkey have agreed to hold the so-called technical talks on reducing tensions in the eastern Mediterranean has nothing to do with reality”, Greece's Foreign Ministry said.

Chief NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, had earlier said that the two NATO allies had “agreed to start technical talks in NATO to create mechanisms that would reduce the risk of incidents in the eastern Mediterranean”.

Tensions between the two countries have increased after Turkey sent research and military ships to the Mediterranean on August 10th.

Greece and Cyprus say the move has violated their sovereignty.

Greece responded by organising sea exercises with several EU allies and the United Arab Emirates.

The European Union has repeatedly urged Turkey to stop its research activities by threatening to impose sanctions on Ankara if it refuses to resolve the dispute through dialogue.

Mitsotakis said Turkey is “harming” international law and “jeopardises regional security” seeking to change “geography, the AFP reports.