East Med crisis: US demands Turkey end ‘calculated provocation’

The United States on Tuesday demanded that Turkey pull back an energy research ship that it sent back into waters contested with Greece, calling the move a “calculated provocation”. Turkey’s move on Monday to carry out a seismic survey south of the Greek island Kastellorizo prompted anger from Greece, France and Germany. “Coercion, threats, intimidation, and military activity will not resolve tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean. We urge Turkey to end this calculated provocation and immediately begin exploratory talks with Greece,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said, adding Washington “deplores” Ankara’s decision. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also criticised Turkey for redeploying the vessel, calling the unilateral move a blow to efforts to start negotiations in the conflict. “Turkey’s back and forth between escalation and a policy of detente has to stop,” Maas said after meeting his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides in Nicosia on Tuesday. “It is up to Turkey to create the conditions for talks.” Maas, whose trip was supposed to mediate and reduce tensions in the region, said he had deliberately left Ankara out of his itinerary. “My decision only to travel to Nicosia and Athens today is owing to the current developments that we have been talking about,” he added. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">