Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hami Aksoy reacted to the statements of his US State Department counterpart Morgan Ortagus regarding the Oruç Reis vessel. Aksoy stated that the increasing tension in the Aegean and the Mediterranean is from the Greek Cypriot Administration and Greece, not Turkey.

Aksoy reminded that the US has already declared that the Seville Map, representing the maximalist maritime jurisdiction claims of the Greek/Greek Cypriot duo does not have any legal significance. It is thus a serious contradiction for the US to criticise the Oruç Reis seismic survey activities as carried out within the Turkish continental shelf. This inconsistency is also being observed in the statements of some EU member states. The party increasing tensions in the Aegean and the Mediterranean is not Turkey, but rather the GCA and Greece.