Former Greek FM criticize maritime deal with Egypt

By Tevfik Durul

ATHENS (AA) - Former Greek foreign minister criticized on Friday a maritime deal between Greece and Egypt.

Greece made concessions on all issues under negotiation, Nikos Kotzias said on Facebook.

In t agreement on the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) gave Egypt what it asked and Greece took nothing, said Kotzias.

He said the agreement between Egypt and the Greek Cypriot Administration was based on the “middle line principle” but the agreement with Greece was based on proportionality of the coasts.

“Egypt did not divide EEZ between equal parts but it took 55% and gave Greece 45%. This approach in a sense is close to what Turkey sought,” he said.

The former top diplomat also said the deal Greece made, as with Italy, weakens every future negotiating position with Albania and much more with Turkey.

Egypt announced Thursday it signed a bilateral agreement with Greece on the delimitation of maritime jurisdictions between the two countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry slammed the "so-called agreement" in a statement, asserting that Greece and Egypt share no mutual sea border and the deal is "null and void" for Ankara.

It added that the demarcated area in the agreement was located on Turkey's continental shelf, as Ankara has reported to the UN.

Turkey has long opposed efforts of various countries to exclude it from its rightful maritime jurisdiction, despite having the longest coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The efforts have especially tried to deprive Turkey of its rights to explore energy resources in the region, which Turkey has encouraged the fair sharing of by regional countries.

Turkey and Libya signed a landmark deal last November laying out maritime boundaries between the two countries.