Greece dismisses Turkish claims

Greek officials bristle at Turkish officials' claims that they have allegedly recognized Turkey's rights to a continental shelf around the Aegean islands, claims that are also reflected in Turkish media.

"No respect [to Turkish maritime jurisdiction] was shown or will be shown in the future by the Greek Armed Forces to Turkey's illegal actions within the zone legally delimited between Greece and Egypt," Defense Ministry officials said Friday.

On Thursday, Turkish Defense Ministry sources had expressed their thanks to Greek authorities for "respecting our [maritime] jurisdiction and for their cooperation."

Turkey's claims that they had given the OK for research vessel Ievoli Relume to conclude its mission near the islands of Kassos and Karpathos flew in the face of a Greek-issued navigational warning defining the mission and time of completion.

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