The United States and France call on Erdogan to stop the provocation and sit down at the negotiating table
U.S. senators and co-chairs of the Greek-Israeli Alliance of Congress Ted Deutsch and Gus Bilirakis called on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to make it clear to the Erdogan government that Turkey must stop its provocations in the region, and that the Oruk voyage and its armed escort must return home.
In a letter they sent to Pompeo yesterday, the two senators expressed concern about “Turkey’s latest provocation in the Eastern Mediterranean”.
“By sending an Oruk voyage reconnaissance vessel with an armed escort to areas belonging to Greece and Cyprus, Turkey risks an escalation that jeopardizes America’s strategic interests,” they said.
Bilirakis and Deutsch call on Pompeo to “send a message to the Erdoğan government that continuing this course of action will create new challenges for regional cooperation and U.S.-Turkey relations.
“The fact that Turkey is responding to such cooperation with the threats and diplomacy of the gunmen is unacceptable,” they add.
They recall that in the Eastern Mediterranean Act, we drew attention to Turkey’s longstanding provocations in the region and, in particular, its efforts to “interfere in the exploration and exploitation of natural resources in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus” and its “violation of the airspace of the sovereign territory of Greece”.
“These provocations have only worsened, as Congress and the Administration consider them to be a threat to the interests of the United States,” they note.
On Wednesday, August 12, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he sends additional military forces to the eastern Mediterranean Sea to support a member of the EU and NATO Greece. Macron also called on Turkey to stop intelligence and resolve the disputes with Athens through negotiations.
The next day, Thursday, Greek media reported that two French Air Force Rafale fighter jets flew over the Oruk voyage and Turkish warships accompanying it. This happened during a joint exercise with the Greek military.
In response, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to retaliate against anyone who attacked the Turkish research vessel conducting reconnaissance in the disputed waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the ships accompanying it.
“We said if you attack our Oruk voyage, you will pay a high price,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Source: CNA
