Turkey on Tuesday lambasted the European Union's newly adopted defense and security action plan as unstrategic and unlawful, saying it will make the bloc part of the problem rather than the solution in the Eastern Mediterranean.
"Notably the chapter in the (Strategic Compass plan) on the Eastern Mediterranean where our country is referred to seems to have been dictated by the two members of the EU who have maximalist maritime boundary claims at the expense and persistent denial of the rights of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots," said a Foreign Ministry statement.
The statement was apparently referring to Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, who Turkey says have blocked the country's EU membership bid for political rather than substantive reasons.
The ministry stressed that the Eastern Mediterranean chapter "fully contradicts international law, practice and even the EU's own acquis; as such it is disconnected from reality."
"As the document fails to show the right direction, it cannot function as a 'compass' nor can it be dubbed 'strategic,'" it said.
Saying that the document will "undoubtedly make the EU part of the problem rather than the solution in the Eastern Mediterranean," Turkey said that it will "not steer the union to the correct strategies."
"Taking into account the latest developments, it is unfortunate and non-visionary for the EU that the document misses the truth and reality and sees a candidate country and a NATO Ally from such a shallow perspective," it added.
In recent years Turkey and Greece have been at odds over Athens' attempt to claim maximalist territory in the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean, restricting Turkish territory to just the Gulf of Antalya despite its Eastern Mediterranean coastline being longer than any other country's.
NATO allies and neighbors Turkey and Greece are at odds over a number of issues, including competing claims over jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean, air space, energy, the ethnically split island of Cyprus and the status of the islands in the Aegean Sea. A dispute over drilling rights for potential oil and gas deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean led to a tense naval standoff in the summer of 2020. Greece has since embarked on a major military modernization program.
Turkey, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected maritime boundary claims by Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, stressing that their excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots. Turkish leaders have repeatedly stressed that Ankara is in favor of resolving outstanding problems in the region through international law, good neighborly relations, dialogue and negotiations. Athens has tried to turn a bilateral issue with Ankara into a Turkey-EU issue, according to Turkish officials.
EU foreign ministers on Monday approved the bloc's new defense and security strategy, called Strategic Compass – over two years in the making, saying that it sets out "an ambitious plan of action for strengthening the EU's security and defense policy by 2030."
