Tensions continue to rise between Greece and Turkey as the latter issued a new NAVTEX notification on Saturday, Nov. 2, falsely claiming that Greece is conducting research within the Turkish continental shelf. This development follows the presence of a Greek research vessel operating in waters between the Greek islands of Rhodes and Karpathos in the southeastern Aegean Sea.
This provocation on the part of Ankara comes just days ahead of Turkish Foreign minister Hakan Fidan’s scheduled visit to Greece, where he is expected to meet with his Greek counterpart George Gerapetritis.
More specifically, this latest Turkish NAVTEX, is a counter-NAVTEX in response to a NAVTEX Greece issued notifying that its research vessel AEGO will be engaged in work to establish an electric interconnection among the islands in the Dodecanese from Nov. 2 to Nov. 7.
It should be noted that the sea area in question falls within Greek territorial waters, within six nautical miles from the Greek islands, including an area considered part of the potential Greek continental shelf.
On its part, Turkey, with its NAVTEX, claims that the research zone includes the Turkish continental shelf, which remains to be delineated with coastal states.” Turkey further asserts its jurisdiction over these waters and requests that any research activities in Turkish jurisdictional areas be coordinated with Turkish authorities.
Diplomatic sources in Athens have dismissed Turkey’s latest NAVTEX as contrary to the principles of international law, rejecting outright the claims of the Turkish continental shelf in this region. These sources highlight that Turkey is raising continental shelf claims in areas even outside the scope of the contentious Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum, which Greece and other countries deem legally invalid.
Greek diplomatic officials have indicated that they will respond to Turkey’s NAVTEX through the appropriate international legal channels.
