Statement By The Spokesman Of The Ministry Of Foreign Affairs In Response To A Question In Relation To Geographical Formations In The Aegean Sea May 27, 1999

Today (14 May), the Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of Greece in Ankara was summoned to the Ministry. The Ministry reiterated Turkey’s views on the status of geographical formations in the Aegean Sea whose sovereignty were not ceded to Greece by valid international agreements. It was also pointed out that those attempts aiming to change the status of these geographical formations by “fait accomplis” or unilateral actions would not be accepted by Turkey, that such efforts constituting acts of provocation would have no legal bearing from the point of international law and that such provocations and acts which could escalate tension between the two countries should be avoided.