Yasin Aktay has accused Merkel of appealing crusaders in the eastern Mediterranean
The deputy chairman of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party, Yasin Aktay, has accused German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, of appealing Crusaders in the eastern Mediterranean, in the context of her demand for all EU countries to back Greece.
Aktay, and in an op-ed article published on Monday under the title Merkel calls the Crusaders to solidarity in the Mediterranean, said: Despite the mediator role she has assumed, by calling EU countries to almost unconditionally stand with Greece, listen to and support it, she is openly stating with whom she stands.
According to Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey reported on Tuesday that it is ready to discuss with Greece to resolve disagreements about Mediterranean rights and resources as long as Athens is too.
In fact, the NATO allies are strongly disagreed about allegations to potential hydrocarbon resources in the eastern Mediterranean Sea according to different views on the extent of their continental shelves. Furthermore, Greece conflicted with its neighboring Turkey concerning several issues such as overlapping interests for hydrocarbon resources in the region.
It should be noted that tensions increased last month after that Ankara sent the Oruc Reis seismic survey ship in a debated area after an agreement between Athens and Cairo confirming maritime borders. Otherwise, the latest declarations from Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu that proposing to discuss with Greece about their conflict in the eastern Mediterranean are in contradiction with Aktay’s latest op-ed, published in Turkish, English, and Arabic.
Aktay also declared: If EU countries stopped for a second and gave Turkey a hearing, even if not as much as they listen to Greece; they would clearly see the injustice. The greed displayed by Greece in efforts to deprive Turkey of all its territorial waters due to the islands and take over them itself is very obvious.
