Hulusi Akar
Turkey and the United States will begin joint patrols in the northern Syrian Manbij area soon after training is completed within the next couple of days, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar told state-owned Anadolu news agency on Wednesday.
As agreed by the NATO allies in June, Turkish and U.S. forces have been carrying out patrols in Manbij independent of each other, but have been training in preparation to carry out joint patrols.
Turkey will not allow Greece to interfere in its activities in the eastern Mediterranean
Turkey will take the necessary measures if a decision is taken contrary to its rights and interests in the Aegean Sea, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said.
"We are in favor of settling matters through peace and negotiations, without it turning into a close conflict in any way," Akar said, speaking at Anadolu Agency’s Editors’ Desk.
Turkey warned Greece on Tuesday it would not tolerate a shift in the Greek maritime border, a few days after Athens said it planned to extend its territorial waters to 12 miles to the west of the country.Territorial waters are a sensitive issue between the two neighbours, who are separated by the Aegean Sea. Turkey and Greece have been at odds over their respective continental shelves for decades.Turkey has previously warned it could not preclude military action to defend its interests.Former Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, who resigned last week, said on Saturday that Athens planned to extend its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea, which flanks the west coast of the country. The planned measure would not affect the Aegean region, off Greece's eastern and southern coasts.Turkey summons Greek ambassador in AnkaraTurkey's foreign ministry, however, said that it had noted statements from Athens of plans for the gradual expansion of Greek territorial waters."It is not possible to tolerate steps where there is no bilateral agreement on the Aegean where the two countries have mutual shores," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement.The statement recalled a 1995 declaration of Turkey's parliament which had authorised action, not excluding military action, to safeguard Turkish interests."(Parliament's) declaration...dated 8 June 1995 has the necessary political warning in this context and it still maintains its validity today," the statement added.That view had been conveyed to Greece's ambassador in Turkey, it said.As a signatory to the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea, Greece has said it can extend its territorial waters to 12 miles from its coast from six miles at present, though it has not sought to do so in waters stretching towards Turkey.Greece and Turkey are at loggerheads over matters ranging from sea boundaries to air space jurisdiction and the ethnically-divided eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus.The long frozen Cypriot conflict has come into sharper focus after the discovery of natural gas in the sea around Cyprus, and attempts by its internationally-recognised government to licence oil majors for exploration. Verbal sparring over jurisdiction is common; last week, Turkey accused Greece of harassing a Turkish research vessel in the area. Greece denied this.The leaders of the two Cypriot sides, Greek Cypriot Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot Mustafa Akinci, are due to have talks in Nicosia, Cyprus's partitioned capital, on Oct. 26.It will be their second meeting since the collapse in July 2017 of negotiations to end a conflict dating to Turkey's 1974 occupation of northern Cyprus in response to a brief Greek-inspired military coup. 
Turkey says it will not tolerate shift in Greek maritime border
Ankara will not tolerate any Greek fait-accompli in the Eastern Mediterranean, he added.
Akar’s remarks came after Turkey summoned Greek Ambassador in Ankara Petros Mavroidis to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.
The move came after recent remarks by Nikos Kotzias, who recently resigned as Greek foreign minister.
Kotzias has said that Greece was ready to extend its territorial waters from six miles to 12 miles in the Ionian Sea.
Turkey will not allow Greece to interfere in its activities in the eastern Mediterranean, Akar remarked, after Ankara said last week a Greek frigate had harassed a Turkish energy exploration ship in the region.
"Turkey will never allow another harassment to any Turkish ship in Eastern Mediterranean," Akar said.
Akar said no project was possible in the eastern Mediterranean without the involvement of Turkey and northern Cyprus.
Greek Ambassador in Ankara Petros Mavroidis was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, according to diplomatic sources.Sources said the ambassador was summoned to the ministry over recent remarks by Nikos Kotzias, who recently resigned as Greek foreign minister.Kotzias has said that Greece was ready to extend its territorial waters from six miles to 12 miles in the Ionian Sea.
Turkey summons Greek ambassador in Ankara