A joint Greek-Israeli message against Turkey

Amid the escalating tension between Athens and Ankara in the eastern Mediterranean, Greece and Israel urged that the sovereign rights of all countries within the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone be respected, in line with international law, according to the Greek newspaper Kathimerini.

"We strongly oppose attempts to violate these rights in a manner that endangers the stability of the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean, violates international law and conflicts with good-neighborly relations," said a joint statement issued after talks in Jerusalem on Tuesday between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mitsotakis told reporters after his talks in Israel that he had set out "what he considered to be our point of view regarding Turkey's aggressive behavior in the eastern Mediterranean."

"We consider this activity a threat to regional peace and stability," he added.

For his part, Netanyahu mentioned in particular the defense cooperation, the tripartite alliance between Greece, Cyprus and Israel, and the EastMed pipeline.

The declaration also stressed that the two countries have shared values ​​of democracy and the rule of law, and that Israel attaches "great importance to its long-term and important partnership with Greece", adding that bilateral cooperation aims to maintain stability, prosperity, and regional cooperation.

"In this regard, we are also committed to continuing our trilateral cooperation with Cyprus and the 3 + 1 formula with the United States of America with a clear goal is to achieve concrete and meaningful results," the statement said.

The joint declaration extensively referred to the progress made by the two countries since 21 May 1990 after the signing of the relevant joint statement by the governments of the late Konstantinos Mitsotakis (father of Kyriakos) and the late Yitzhak Shamir.

In the defense field, it was agreed that the national security advisers of the two countries would coordinate more, and in the meantime, Netanyahu told reporters that Greece and Cyprus would be the first destinations for Israeli tourists once restrictions on travel from Israel were lifted on the target date on August 1.