Greece to start talks with Egypt, Cyprus on maritime boundaries

Greece will launch consultations with Egypt and Greek Cyprus to establish maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on April 29.
Tsipras, who was visiting Greek Cyprus, said those boundaries – which are normally a precursor to a state licensing for offshore oil and gas exploration – would be defined in areas where consent of “third countries” was not required.
Turkey and Greece have been at loggerheads for decades over land, air, sea and sea-floor borders in parts of the Aegean sea.
Greek Cyprus, which was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek inspired coup, found gas offshore in 2011, in a move which has also been challenged by Ankara.
After talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, Tsipras said: “We agreed on further consultations for defining our sea zones wherever that is deemed necessary, and obviously there where it does not require an understanding and cooperation with third countries.”