Arinc gives details with regard to phone conversation between Erdogan and Papandreou

Speaking at a TV program in Bursa on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc gave details about the phone conversation between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Greek counterpart George Papandreou. Arinc said with regard to the exploration for natural gas offshore Cyprus that Papandreou said to Erdogan that if they carried out the exploration work, of course Turkey could do the same, adding that there should be no tension. Arinc said that Erdogan indicated that Turkey wouldn't create any tension, because it would carry out the exploration work with its own means, and if needed, its naval forces would take the exploration work under protection. Following Arinc's statement, Greek Parliament Spokesman Elias Mossialos said that as part of the phone conversation between Erdogan and Papandreou, the news indicating that Turkey could carry out the exploration work in the region didn't reflect the truth with regard to Greek Cypriots' oil exploration initiatives in eastern Mediterranean. Afterwards, Arinc made a written statement, indicating, "I've been unfortunately seeing that my statements have been misunderstood. In that interview, my aim was to explain that atmosphere in the phone conversation between Erdogan and Papandreou was considerably good and friendly. Considering the current level of our relationships with Greece and friendly feelings between the two prime ministers, such misunderstandings obviously shouldn't occur."