(by Andrea Pinto) The tension in the Aegean between Turkey and Greece continues. EU foreign ministers meet today at a summit. Our representative, the minister Luigi Di Maio he commented on the escalation with the Turkish equal: "Italy's commitment is to work to facilitate dialogue by giving full support to the action of the High Representative for the EU, Josep Borrell, for the resumption of an effective and constructive dialogue between the parties ”.
A phrase of circumstance that of the Italian minister. Italy in these hours is more attentive to discussing "Local hen thieves", those of the bonus for VAT matches.
The most active interlocutors in the process of detente between Greece and Turkey are, however, those who really lead the EU, the French president Emmanuel Macron and the German chancellor Angela Merkel Thus Macron in a twitter: "Turkey's unilateral decisions on oil exploration are causing tensions. They must go out, to allow a peaceful dialogue between neighboring countries and NATO allies. I have decided to temporarily strengthen the French military presence in the eastern Mediterranean, in the coming days, in cooperation with European partners, including Greece ”.
The response "to the poison" of the Turkish president was not late Erdoğan: "Nobody should see themselves enlarged like a giant in the mirror, especially a country that does not even have a coast in the eastern Mediterranean ”. "We are not interested in making a show in front of cameras", the reference is to Macron's trip to Beirut after the tragedy of 4 August last. "Macron and company want to restore colonial order in Lebanon".
However, Erdogan wanted to clarify that Turkey does not want tensions: "We can find a winning way out for everyone, in everyone's interest ”.
The dispute is for the Greek island of Castellorizo just two kilometers from the Turkish southern coast and 558 kilometers from Athens. Erdogan in this regard is lapidary: "The Greek request cannot be explained by common sense: it is absurd to argue that an island of only 10 square kilometers has jurisdiction over 40 thousand square kilometers of sea ”.
The Greek control of the waters around Castellorizo it is enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, not signed by Turkey.
At the end of last January the Yavuz, a vessel flying the Turkish flag, an oil drilling vehicle approached with a "transponder" off in the territorial waters of Cyprus. Since then, Ankara's aims in the Mediterranean have been clear.
As reported by Starmag, in the sea area in front of Cyprus a few years ago important hydrocarbon deposits were discovered, for which the race for exploration and drilling has started. A race whose sole arbiter could only be the government of the Republic of Cyprus, given that a large part of the fields are located within its own waters. Here Eni managed to grab several concessions: the area was divided into blocks, alone or together with other companies, our energy giant played the leading role in the assignment of these lots. The French Total was not far behind, securing several concessions.
But from Ankara they did not accept this situation: according to the Turkish government, the Republic of Northern Cyprus, roughly included within the territories occupied by the Anatolian country in 1974 and recognized only by Turkey, also has the right to participate in the game. One way, on Erdogan's part, of claiming an important role for his country in the eastern Mediterranean. If Ankara were to stay out of the race for Cypriot energy sources, then the risk is that Turkey as a whole could become marginal in the regional context. All to the advantage eventually of Egypt and Israel, whose gas could soon reach the other part of the Mediterranean.
The clash is therefore one of the delicate ones, the game of the decisive ones. And the sending of the Yavuz in front of Cypriot waters is nothing more than a provocation by Erdogan aimed at making his interlocutors understand his intentions. Italy and France in the first place, since the ship is currently in the lots given in concession to Eni and Total and, in particular, in block 8.
Tensions with Italy
The context is not so different from that of February 2018, when the Italian ship Saipem 12000, legitimately on its way to Cypriot waters where it had to carry out some work, was stopped by the Turkish navy and forced to turn back. In fact, Italy, which has not only important but also legitimate interests there, today, as then, is unable to free itself from the grip of Turkish provocations. Our country has legally obtained the concessions, but Turkey is in the field of illegality. This is because the decisions taken by Nicosia are political choices made by the only internationally recognized government of Cyprus, also belonging to the European Union. While Ankara's claim is based on the positioning of a state, such as the one located in the occupied part of the island, recognized only by Turkey itself.