Greece and Cyprus have informed the European Union (EU) about Turkey's ideas to create an exclusive economic zone with Syria, ignoring the sovereign rights of Cyprus in this area of the Mediterranean Sea, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Greek reporters after the EU summit in Brussels.

The Greek premier was asked if the EU was aware of the risk of an agreement between Turkey and Syria on an exclusive economic zone, which would effectively strip Cyprus of its sovereign rights in this area of the Mediterranean Sea, following the example of the illegal Turkish-Libyan memorandum on exclusive economic zone, as he stated by Hulusi Akar, a member of the Turkish parliament and former Minister of National Defense of Turkey.

"First of all, let me remind that the Turkish-Libyan memorandum is illegal and invalid—not only from the point of view of Greece, but also of the European Union," responded Mitsotakis. "Obviously, both I and [Cypriot] President Nikos Christodoulides have informed our colleagues of the now known discussions that some sort of exclusive economic zone could be created between Turkey and Syria, ignoring the indisputable sovereign rights of Cyprus."