Professor George Pagoulatos, Director General of ELIAMEP, and Dr. Ioannis N. Grigoriadis, Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Bilkent University and Senior Research Fellow at ELIAMEP, contributed to Al Jazeera with comments on the state of relations between Greece and Turkey after the latter announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Libya outlining their maritime boundaries.
As Grigoriadis mentioned: “Turkey has refused to ratify the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and supports it is not bound by its provisions that award islands maritime zones. What is interesting in this case is that it found another neighboring country – Libya – to endorse that position.”
George Pagoulatos, expressed the view that Europe’s weakened position is offering Turkey an opportunity to indulge that vision. “Europe is facing the reality of a lessened role and diminished global influence,” he stated. “Agreements it has sponsored, like the Paris Climate Accord or the Iran Nuclear Deal, were rejected by the US,” he added.
According to Pagoulatos, Europe “is faced with the rise of a very dynamic competitor which it increasingly views as a rival and a systemic challenge, China, and it cannot rely on its most stable post-war ally, the US.”
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