Top Turkish, Greek diplomats talk by phone

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu held a phone conversation with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Dec. 24.

No details of the phone conversation were revealed.

Recently Turkey's agenda, along with other countries, has been dominated with the deal Ankara struck with Tripoli last month.

On Nov. 27, the foreign ministers of Libya and Turkey sealed the "Marine Jurisdictions" maritime boundary delimitation deal in Istanbul.

This is the second such agreement of Turkey for eastern Mediterranean following its deal with Turkish Cypriots signed in 2011. Turkey has yet to proclaim any exclusive economic zone in the region, which may add a fisheries dimension to the existing oil and gas competition.

The memorandum establishes 18.6 nautical miles of a continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone boundary line between Turkey and Libya.

This boundary line was disclosed by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Dec. 2 in a Twitter message of a senior diplomat responsible for maritime issues, Ambassador Çağatay Erciyes.

Ahead of signing a deal with Libya, Turkey on Nov. 13 sent a letter to the U.N. addressing the secretary-general and reaffirmed the outer limits of its continental shelf in the eastern Mediterranean.

The coordinates agreed with Libya coincide with the legal position expressed in that letter and are fully compatible with international law, including the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the diplomat noted.

Turkey argues that the islands which lie on the opposite side of the median line between two mainlands cannot create maritime jurisdiction areas. Turkey also highlights the importance of comparative coastal lengths and the principle of equitable...