The official representative of the Greek government Stelios Petsas said this at a briefing on Monday.

According to him, Turkey’s provocative actions are directed not only against Greece and Cyprus.

“It concerns the whole European Union, it concerns NATO, it concerns peace and stability in the Mediterranean. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has already sent a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations and it has been handed over by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In that letter, he (the prime minister) represents and documents Ankara’s illegal activities. Greece acts with cold blood, vigilance and confidence, giving priority to diplomacy. It cannot be intimidated, it cannot be blackmailed”, – Pezas said.

According to him, “it’s already clear that Ankara’s illegal and provocative actions have gone too far”.

“They started in November last year with the signing of an illegal and [legally] non-existent Libyan-Turkish memorandum [on the division of maritime zones]. They continued with the incitement of a mass incursion of persecuted migrants [across the land border between Turkey and Greece] in the Evros region. They took on the character of provocations against the entire civilized world with the transformation of the [temple] of St. Sophia [in Istanbul] and then the Chora Monastery into a mosque. And they culminated in the dispatch of [the Turkish research vessel] Oruc Reis and units of the Turkish [Navy] Navy to areas of the Greek continental shelf, as well as illegal maritime notices”, – Petsas said.

The government representative stressed that “the message of Greece, as reiterated by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is clear: the provocations by Turkey are ending, discussions are starting”.

“Threats stop, probing contacts begin. And necessarily on the basis of international law and, in particular, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Thus, either we will find a solution to the only unresolved issue [between the two countries], namely, the delimitation of maritime zones, or we will write a joint statement to refer this issue to the International Court of Justice in The Hague”, – the Cabinet representative stressed.

He confirmed that on September 10 Mitsotakis will participate in the Summit of Southern Europe, which will be held on the island of Corsica with the participation of France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Malta and Portugal. Before the summit, Kyriakos Mitsotakis will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron. According to Pezas, this meeting will discuss “events in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkish provocative actions, as well as Greek-French defense cooperation”.