Pompeo and Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey
Onyeama(not shown) deliver statements to the press, at the
Department of State on February 4, 2020 in Washington,DC. Eric
BARADAT / AFP.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Wednesday
for Turkey and Greece to reduce tensions over disputed maritime
rights and gas resources in the eastern
Mediterranean.
“President Trump has been in conversations with President
Erdogan, he’s spoken to the prime minister in Greece,” Pompeo
said.
“We’re urging everyone to stand down to reduce tensions and
begin to have diplomatic discussions” about security and energy, he
told reporters.
“It is not useful to increase military tensions in the region.
Only negative things can flow from that.”
Greece has accused Turkey of violating its sovereignty by
pushing ahead with natural gas exploration activities in disputed
waters southwest of Cyprus.
Both countries deployed naval warships to the area in shows of
force, elevating concerns over a possible clash.
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On Monday Turkey showed no sign of compromising, saying its
vessel conducting seismic surveys for hydrocarbons would stay in
the region until September 12.
On Tuesday Pompeo announced that the US would lift its
two-decade arms embargo on Cyprus, allowing non-lethal equipment to
the country in a move that angered Ankara.
He said Wednesday that the decision was “a long time coming,”
not directly linked to the tensions between Greece and Turkey.
“We thought it was the right thing to do,” he said.
But Turkey’s foreign ministry said the US move “poisons the
peace and stability environment in the region” and does “not comply
with the spirit of alliance” between the United States and
Turkey.
AFP