Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez (D) sharply criticised the US State Department services for referring to the waters at Kastellorizo as “disputed”, stressing that the waters in the east Mediterranean belonged to Greece.

Let’s be crystal clear—the only country “disputing” these waters is Turkey. These waters belong to Greece, and the State Department must unequivocally and publicly recognize that Turkey alone is responsible for the tension over them. https://t.co/iHG1gXVNH4

— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) July 22, 2020

The US State Department urged Turkey on Tuesday to refrain from any drilling plans in the Eastern Mediterranean that will raise tensions in the region, according to a spokesperson.

The US State Department issued an announcement urging Turkish authorities to halt any plans for operations in the region and to avoid steps that raise tensions with the spokesperson describing the area south and east of the Greek island of Kastellorizo where Ankara plans to hold a seismic survey as “disputed waters.”

“Let’s be crystal clear—the only country “disputing” these waters is Turkey. These waters belong to Greece, and the State Department must unequivocally and publicly recognize that Turkey alone is responsible for the tension over them” Menendez said.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin this afternoon.

During the communication the two leaders focused on bilateral relations, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and the wider region and the issue of the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque which is a provocation for the entire Orthodox Christian world.