President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a videoconference call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday.

They discussed bilateral relations, regional issues and the developments in the Eastern Mediterranean.

"It is unacceptable that some countries support Greece's selfish, unfair attitude," Erdoğan told Merkel.

He added that Turkey supports a fair share solution in the Eastern Mediterranean that will create a win-win situation for all littoral states, while protecting the rights of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

However, Erdoğan said Greece and the Greek Cypriot, along with the countries backing them, took steps that have been escalating tensions and contributing further to the deadlock.

Erdoğan once again emphasized that Turkey will always protect its rights and interests against initiatives that violate international law.

He welcomed Merkel’s contributions to finding a solution to this problem that harms regional peace.

Since the discovery of significant gas reserves in the region a decade ago, countries have been engaged in renewed disputes over maritime borders, while international law presents few remedies. The deepening rift between Athens and Ankara widened with Turkey’s decision to enhance energy exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.

As a guarantor nation for the TRNC, Turkey has consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administration's unilateral drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting that the TRNC also has rights to the resources in the area.

Greece disputes Turkey's current energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean, trying to box in Turkish maritime territory based on small islands near the Turkish coast.

Turkey – the country with the longest coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean – has sent out drillships to explore energy reserves on its continental shelf.

The country has been firm in declaring that Ankara and the TRNC have rights in the region. Ankara earlier said energy resources near the island of Cyprus must be shared fairly between the Greek Cypriot administration and the TRNC – which has issued Ankara's state oil company Turkish Petroleum (TPAO) with an exploration license.