Turkey and Greece agree to resume talks over disputes on Mediterranean Sea

U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is on a two-day visit to Greece to assess the country’s sour relations with its NATO ally, Turkey.

Turkey's research vessel, Oruc Reis, rear, anchored off the coast of Antalya on the Mediterranean, Turkey, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020. Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed the return of a Turkish survey vessel to port Sunday from a disputed area of the eastern Mediterranean that has been at the heart of a summer stand-off between Greece and Turkey over energy rights. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilic

Turkey and Greece have been at odds, for weeks, over Ankara’s ambition to establish an oil and gas port in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Greece has contested Turkey’s ambition saying the area Ankara mapped out for its project, is in Greek territory.

Tensions over the matter got so heated that both countries sent warships to the region, which eventually ended up clashing.

In a press conference held in Thessaloniki, Pompeo sided with Greece saying both sides are ready to use “all appropriate means” to safeguard the region against Turkey.

Turkey has since agreed to resume talks with its Greek neighbors.

U.S ambitions over the Mediterranean

The U.S has long expressed its intention to build energy ties with Greece. Athens imports a large amount of oil from the States. Plus with Greece’s ambition to expand its oil reserves and become the main supplier in the Balkans, a win for Athens will in turn boost American oil exports.

By: Niza Nondo