“In the case of the. Piri Reis surveys in 22 locations in the Aegean Sea, 12 of which are on the Greek continental shelf. Ankara is instrumentalizing international law by talking about ‘surveys in international waters’, while rejecting the positions of Athens and Nicosia on the cable surveys, which are based solely on international law. Turkey is in a geopolitical vertigo, as it remembers and invokes international law at will. Let it decide whether it accepts it or not,” said Tasos Hadjivassiliou, MP for Serres and Secretary of International Relations and EU of the New Democracy.

In an interview with ERTnews Radio on Tuesday morning, he said that Ankara’s “geopolitical irritation” stems from three factors: “First, the happy outcome of the tender for hydrocarbons in the south of Crete, with the arrival of Chevron in the field; second, Turkey’s annoyance with the Greek initiative for marine parks and spatial planning based on international and European law; and third, the surgical precision approach of the Foreign Ministry and George Gerapetritis to both sides of Libya.”

In this context, he referred to Greece’s letter to the UN, deconstructing Libya’s arguments: “Recall that the islands have maritime zones – Article 121 of the Convention on the Law of the Sea. Turkey and Libya do not have objective coasts to conclude a memorandum of understanding on the delimitation of maritime zones. Therefore, the Turkish-Libyan Memorandum is absolutely untenable. At the same time, he pointed out that Libya has mistakenly closed the Gulf of Sirte, which annoys Malta and creates new tension.

Referring to the developments in the Middle East, the Serres MEP noted that “no civilized person in the West can accept the unprecedented humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Gaza”. In this context, he made clear that “it is a big mistake to consider the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza as a solution”. He expressed hope that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s ceasefire initiative could be “a glimmer of optimism”, although he acknowledged that the likelihood of success is limited.

Finally, Tasos Hadjivassiliou stressed that Israel has the right to self-defense, as any free and democratic state, while at the same time the Palestinians have the right to establish a national home based on the 1967 borders. “We are far from this goal, but we must be reminded of it as the only correct and calm position,” she said.