Turkey and Greece have canceled their recently announced navigational telexes (Navtex), Turkish security sources stated Monday, adding that as a gesture of goodwill and to prove once again that Ankara prefers dialogue to solve problems in the Eastern Mediterranean, a Navtex on a military exercise in the region was similarly annulled.

Saying that Turkey continues to insist on international law, good neighborly relations, dialogue and political solutions in the disputes regarding the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, security sources said Greece canceled its Oct. 29 Navtex while Turkey canceled the Oct. 28 one.

Accordingly, the decision to annul the Navtex notices came after Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar during a NATO defense ministerial meeting last week and was supported by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and the Greek defense minister.

After Greece had issued a Navtex alert for Oct. 29, Turkey’s Republic Day, Turkey in response issued its own Navtex alert for shooting drills on the day prior, Oct. 28, a national holiday of Athens.

NATO members Turkey and Greece are at odds over conflicting claims to hydrocarbon resources in the Eastern Mediterranean and overlapping views on the extent of their continental shelves.

Ankara accuses Athens of pursuing maximalist policies in the region and underlines that its maritime claims constitute a violation of Turkey's sovereign rights.

Turkey has also said energy resources near the island of Cyprus must be shared fairly between the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and the Greek Cypriot administration.