Amid heightened tensions, Greek military sources told Kathimerini that if the cables of the Turkish seismic ship Oruc Reis touch the Greek continental shelf, Turkey will have "complete and exclusive" responsibility for what will follow.
The warning after Turkey this week sent the Oruc Reis ship to an area within the Greek continental shelf for alleged seismic investigations
The same sources say that the Greek armed forces are on early warning in response to Ankara's decision to send two thirds of the Turkish fleet to the Aegean.
Analysts also noted that the Navtex was sent to coincide with the 46th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and at a time of veiled detente between Greece and Turkey, it was only a few weeks ago when Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the president Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to keep communication channels open.
According to the representative of the Turkish presidency, Ibrahim Kalin, "Greece's reaction has been excessive".
Meanwhile, Berlin with its Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has made it known that Germany enjoys the trust of Greece and Turkey and that therefore it can interact to dilute the crisis. "It is no coincidence that Chancellor Angela Merkel intervened or was called to interveneThe Defense Chief said, referring to Merkel's phone calls earlier this week with Mitsotakis and Erdogan.
French President Emmanuel Macron, however, reiterated his full solidarity with Greece and Cyprus after meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Nicos Anastasiades: “I want to reiterate France's full solidarity with Cyprus, but also with Greece, in front the violation of sovereignty by Turkey ". Macron on his Facebook profile said it would be a serious mistake for the European Union to leave Eastern Mediterranean security in the hands of other actors and mainly Turkey.
Mitsotakis held meetings with his party leaders on Thursday to inform them of this week's European Council meeting and developments with Turkey. On Wednesday, left-wing opposition leader SYRIZA Aexis Tsipras called a meeting of the country's main decision-making body on foreign affairs and defense matters.
The situation facing the Cypriot coast
At the end of last January the Yavuz, a ship flying the Turkish flag, a vehicle for perforations oil was approaching with “transponder” turned off in the territorial waters of Cyprus. Since then, Ankara's aims in the Mediterranean have been clear.
As Starmag reported, important discoveries were discovered in the sea area in front of Cyprus a few years ago deposits of hydrocarbons, for which the race for exploration and drilling has started. A race whose only referee could only be the government of the Republic of Cyprus, given that a large part of the deposits are located within the waters under its jurisdiction. Here theEni has managed to grab several concessions: the area has been divided into blocks, alone or together with other companies, our energy giant has played the leading role in the assignment of these lots. Even the French Total it was no exception, 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, has the right to participate in the game. A way for Erdogan to claim an important role for his country in the Eastern Mediterranean. If Ankara were to remain out of the race for Cypriot energy sources, then the risk is that as a whole Turkey could become marginal in the regional context. All to the advantage of possibly Egypt and Israel, whose gas could soon reach the other part of the Mediterranean.
The clash is therefore of the delicate ones, the match of the decisive ones. And sending the Yavuz in front of the Cypriot waters is nothing more than a provocation by Erdogan aimed at making his interlocutors understand his intentions. Italy e France first of all, given that the ship is currently in the data lots granted 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 traveling to the Cypriot waters where it had to carry out some work, it was stopped by the Turkish navy and forced to go back. In fact, Italy, which has interests there that are not only important but also legitimate, today, as then, is unable to free itself from the grip of Turkish provocations. Our country has legally obtained the concessions, to be in the riverbed of theillegality instead, it is Turkey. This is because the decisions taken by Nicosia are political choices made by the only internationally recognized government of Cyprus, which also belongs to the European Union. While Ankara's claim is based on the positioning of a state, such as that located in the occupied part of the island, recognized only by Turkey itself. And yet, nobody seems to be moving: it is true for Italy, where the news of Yavuz's activities has been tracked, it is also true for France, Germany and the European Union.