According to Turkish media, the Turkish Minister of Defence, Hulusi Akar, floated the idea of joint exploitation of the natural resources in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey.

According to news websites in the neighbouring country, after the extraordinary meeting of NATO Defence Ministers, Hulusi Akar, speaking to reporters, among other things spoke about the benefits of both countries from a possible co-exploitation both in terms of tourism and rich resources of the Archipelago.

Asked about the latest situation in Greek-Turkish relations, Hulusi Akar replied: “Positive and constructive talks were held with Greece on current issues. We put our issues on the table with sincerity, openness, honesty, and transparency”.

Speaking about the Aegean in particular, as trthaber site reports, he noted: “This is important for the well-being of the people of the two countries and the sharing of the beauties and riches of the Aegean. There is tourism, fishing and many other riches. We are in favor of using them together, we have said that. We received a positive response from our interlocutor in this sense, we expect them to move in this direction. We are constructive, positive, this is our approach”.

These statements come a day after his “unscheduled” meeting with the Greek Minister of National Defence, Nikos Panagiotopoulos.

Speaking to reporters, Akar said he was waiting for the Greek delegation in Ankara for a meeting on Confidence Building Measures and that this issue came to the fore during his meeting with Greek Defense Minister Panayotopoulos.