Turkey, Greece To Continue Confidence-Building Efforts

Turkey and Greece on Monday agreed to continue talks on confidence-building measures.

Turkey's National Defense Ministry said on Twitter that the defense ministries of the both countries agreed to hold the fourth round of meetings.

"The date and other details of the planned meeting will be set in the near future," the ministry said.

On May 2019, a Turkish defense delegation visited Athens for a technical meeting with Greek officials to boost cooperation, especially in confidence-building measures and code of conduct in the Aegean Sea.

Turkey says hydrocarbon drilling activities, the source of tension between the two countries, in the Eastern Mediterranean region are based on its legitimate rights stemming from international law.

Turkey has consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administration's unilateral drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, saying Turkish Cypriots also have rights to the resources in the area.

In 1974, following a coup aiming at Cyprus' annexation by Greece, Ankara intervened as a guarantor power. In 1983, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded.

The decades since have seen several attempts to resolve the dispute, all ending in failure. The latest one, held with the participation of the guarantor countries -- Turkey, Greece, and the UK -- ended in 2017 in Switzerland. -