Turkey and Greece, though they are both NATO allies, continue to be at odds with one another in the eastern Mediterranean following Turkey’s seismic survey operations within Greece’s 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) which Turkey fails to recognise.
Ankara’s second extension for its research ship Oruc Reis to conduct seismographic work until 27 August, was followed by a third extension to continue operations near Crete through to 1 September following Greece’s own counter-NAVTEX to conduct a four-day naval exercise in the same area.
Greece issued a counter-NAVTEX emphasising the illegality of Turkey’s NAVTEX which Greek authorities state is invalid and issued by an ‘unauthorised service’. Athens sources state that, once again, Turkey is carrying out activities within Greece’s continental shelf, disputing the country’s territorial sovereignty according to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1982).
Greek diplomatic sources on Thursday said that Turkey’s latest extension “proves once again who it is that wants the de-escalation of tension, and who does not.”
A blind application of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea would limit Turkey’s exploitation rights into a small corner around the Gulf of Antalya, however Turkey signed an EEZ agreement with Libya in late 2019 which implies that not even Crete, the largest Greek island, has a continental shelf let alone smaller Kastellorizo.
More recently, Greece came to an agreement with Egypt which prompted Turkey’s latest round of provocation in the Aegean after it was staved off by Germany last month.
Greek Parliament on Thursday ratified the country’s legal agreement with Egypt, voted on with a majority of 178 MPs from the conservative New Democracy Party and socialist Movement for Change (KINAL), whereas the 81 members of Radical Left Coalition SYRIZA, the main opposition, voted ‘present’. The 26 MPs of the Greek Communist Party, Greek Solution and MeRA25 were opposed to the agreement.
READ MORE: Open letter to Americans about Turkey’s bullying of Greece and Cyprus
Turkey’s own rival agreement with Libya is also focused on the same area. The Turkish-Libyan accord implies that not not even the largest Greek island, Crete, has a continental shelf, leaving smaller islands like Kastellorizo, nearer to Turkey’s coast, very much unprotected.
Germany seems to have silently understood Turkey’s claim for a piece of the offshore cake, and EU leaders haven’t yet agreed to impose new sanctions on Turkey in addition to those imposed in response to drilling off Cyprus.
Following visits to both Greece and Turkey on Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas urged both countries to solve their dispute through diplomacy and he pointed to the risk of a military confrontation.
“The current situation in the eastern Mediterranean is equivalent to playing with fire,” Mr Maas said after talks in Athens with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias. “Every little spark can lead to catastrophe.”
READ MORE: Greece and Turkey at loggerheads with rival exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean
Both countries however have been at loggerheads in the area since the mid-1970s and there have been several escalations which have been defused via dialogue, usually with the US playing a crucial role in ensuring stability.
US President Donald Trump and Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had a second telephone conversation in 24 hours as a follow-up from the first one. In the interim, Mr Trump said he had spoken with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and added his interest in the de-escalation of tension in the eastern Mediterranean, according to Greek media sources. Further details regarding the conversation were not given.