Page 30 - bon-dia-aruba-20200914

A30 WORLD NEWS
Dialuna 14 September 2020

Greece, Turkey signal willingness to talk about sea dispute

(AP) — After weeks of ten- ing.
sions in the eastern Mediter- Turkey argues that Greek is-
ranean, Greece and Turkey lands close to its coastline
have signaled a willingness to should not project maritime
start talks aimed at resolving zones for oil-and-gas ex-
a long-standing sea dispute ploitation, a view not shared
tied to potentially lucrative by most western allies. Al-
offshore gas deposits. though the dispute is decades
Greek Prime Minister Kyria- old, huge offshore natural
kos Mitsotakis welcomed the gas sites discovered in recent
return of a Turkish survey years have intensified the
ship to port Sunday from a quarrel.
disputed martime area at the "Natural gas has changed the
heart of the summer standoff geopolitical dynamics of the
between Greece and Turkey eastern Mediterranean mari-
over energy rights. Mitsota- time boundary disputes," says
kis said he was ready to try to Michael Tanchum, a senior
restart long-stalled talks, sig- fellow at the Austrian Insti-
naling that the two countries tute for European and Secu-
could be inching toward ne- rity Policy. "Turkey views its
gotiations after weeks of in- future political and economic
creasingly bellicose rhetoric. influence across the entire
Exploratory talks between Mediterranean region and in
Greece and Turkey over the Africa as being at stake."
continental shelf and exclu- Turkish Defense Minister
sive economic zone rights "This is a positive first step," NATO allies Turkey and been doing in recent weeks," Hulusi Akar said Sunday that
were last held in 2016. Tur- Mitsotakis told reporters in Greece both dispatched war- Mitsotakis said. Turkey supports peace and
key's Oruc Reis research ship the northern Greek city of ships to the area where the NATO intervened, organiz- dialogue "if our wishes and
returned to near the southern Thessaloniki. "If we see signs Oruc Reis was engaged in ing talks between the two demands are fulfilled." He
port of Antalya for the first of deescalation in practice ... seismic research and con- countries' militaries to pre- spoke on a visit to Antalya's
time in more than a month I will be the first to sit at the ducted military exercises to vent a potential conflict. district of Kas, and later ac-
after Turkey announced in negotiating table." assert their claims. Turkey had also come under cused Greece of damaging ef-
July that it was dispatching The deployment of the re- "In areas where there is no increasing international pres- forts for talks with its military
a vessel to work in waters search vessel triggered a mili- maritime delimitation, there sure to withdraw the survey buildup on eastern Aegean
where Greece claims juris- tary build-up in the eastern can be no unilateral actions, ship, with the threat of Euro- Sea islands.
diction. Mediterranean. Nominal and that has what Turkey has pean Union sanctions loom-

Former UK leaders unite to slam Boris Johnson on Brexit plan

(AP) — Two former British tween mainland Britain and and not the truth." land link between the U.K. the predictability, political
prime ministers who played Northern Ireland if a U.K.- Still, with the British gov- and the EU. stability and legal clarity that
crucial roles in bringing EU trade agreement isn't se- ernment showing no sign of The EU wanted assurances are integral to the delicate
peace to Northern Ireland cured. changing course, there are the border would not be used balance between the north
joined forces Sunday to urge The British government has real concerns that the talks as a back route for unlicensed and south of Ireland that is
lawmakers to reject govern- admitted that the legislation on a future trade deal be- goods arriving in Ireland at the core of the peace pro-
ment plans to override the would break international tween the U.K. and the EU from the rest of the U.K. — cess."
Brexit deal with the Europe- law, but argues that it's an in- could collapse within weeks. England, Scotland and Wales. It's unclear whether the
an Union, arguing that it im- surance policy for that poten- If that happens, tariffs and As a result, the two sides planned legislation will get
perils that peace and damages tial 'no-deal' scenario. John- other impediments to trade agreed there would be some through the British Parlia-
the U.K.'s reputation. son has said the legislation will be imposed by both sides kind of regulatory border be- ment, with a number of
In an article in The Sun- is needed to end EU threats at the start of 2021. tween mainland Britain and Johnson's fellow Conserva-
day Times, John Major and to impose a "blockade" in the The U.K. left the EU on Northern Ireland. tives uneasy at the prospect
Tony Blair slammed the cur- Irish Sea that the prime min- Jan. 31, but it is in a transi- Major and Blair, who both of the government breaching
rent British government for ister asserted could "carve up tion period that effectively vociferously opposed Brexit, international law.
"shaming" the country with our country." sees it benefit from the bloc's said the planned legislation Tobias Ellwood is one law-
legislation that, in places, Britain's Justice Secretary tariff-free trade until the end puts the 1998 Good Friday maker who has said he could
goes against the very deal it Robert Buckland told the of the year while a future re- agreement that ended de- not accept the legislation, ar-
signed to allow for the U.K.'s BBC on Sunday that the leg- lationship is negotiated. Even cades of violence in North- guing that the bill diminishes
smooth departure from the islation was a "break the glass before the latest standoff, dis- ern Ireland at risk. "our role-model status as de-
EU earlier this year. in emergency provision," if cussions between the EU's The pair said the bill "negates fender of global standards."
Major, a Conservative prime needed, and that he would chief negotiator, Michel Bar-
minister from 1990 to 1997, resign if he believed the rule nier, and his U.K. counter-
and Blair, his Labour succes- of law was broken in an "un- part, David Frost, had made
sor for a decade, said Prime acceptable" way. very little progress.
Minister Boris Johnson's In- "I don't believe we're going to One major element of the
ternal Market Bill "questions get to that stage," he said. Brexit withdrawal agreement
the very integrity" of the U.K. EU leaders have furiously re- is the section related to en-
"This government's action jected Johnson's charge that suring an open border on the
is shaming itself and embar- the bloc is planning a major island of Ireland to protect
rassing our nation," they said. disruption to normal trade the peace process in North-
The planned legislation, between mainland Britain ern Ireland.
which will be debated by and Northern Ireland. The issue proved thorny dur-
British lawmakers this week, Irish Foreign Minister Simon ing the more than two years
has led to a furious outcry Coveney told the BBC that of discussions it took to get a
within the EU as it would di- the "kind of inflammatory Brexit deal done, as the bor-
minish the bloc's previously language" coming from the der between Northern Ire-
agreed oversight of trade be- British government was "spin land and Ireland is the only