Greece urges Turkey to drop its threat of war

Speaking at parliament on Saturday, Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos urged Ankara to drop its threat of war, if the Greek territorial waters were extended in the Aegean Sea. Avramopoulos also claimed that Turkey was bound by terms of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, even though it was not signed by Ankara. Stating that Greece has been extending efforts to fully improve ties between the two countries and turn them into good neighborly relations, Avramopoulos said that this policy aimed at creating rapprochement between Turkey and Greece was adopted by the majority of political powers in the country. Avramopoulos said that Ankara should drop its threat of war in long-running Aegean disputes between the two neighbors, adding, "This threat should be removed as soon as possible. We will work in a methodical way towards this end. I have already let my Turkish counterpart know of my government’s expectation when we met on the sidelines of the Black Sea regional meeting." Avramopoulos also said his government would work to ensure that Turkey re-opens the Halki Greek Orthodox seminary in an island off Istanbul that the status of the Patriarchate was not a matter of reciprocity that should be handled as part of a package that commits Greece to improve the country’s Muslim Turkish minority.