The military of Greece was on high alert Monday after Turkey sent its Oruc Reis survey ship into an area within the Greek continental shelf — an area that is part of international waters but the exploitation of whose undersea resources is reserved to Greece — in a move Athens described as a threat to peace and stability in the region.
On Monday, the Greek government’s foreign policy and security committee KYSEA held a meeting including the chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA), Konstantinos Floros. After this meeting, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias issued a stern statement calling on Turkey to “immediately end its illegal actions that undermine peace and security in the region... Greece will not accept any blackmail. It will defend its sovereignty and sovereign rights.”
After the survey ship, accompanied by ships of the Turkish Navy, entered the Greek Exclusive Economic Zone, Greek warships sent messages at a frequency of about 15 minutes requesting the vessel’s removal from the area, all of which went unanswered by the vessel. The seismic research vessel then proceeded with its exploration for hydrocarbons, but the presence of so many warships in the area rendered this technically impossible.
The issue is that Turkey refuses to begin the process of talks that would lead to a bilateral agreement on the two countries’ respective Exclusive Economic Zones. It claims that its EEZ stretches from the Turkish coast to just outside the 6 mile limit off the coast of Crete!
Rather than hold talks, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a statement saying Turkey would not succumb to “ridiculous and baseless claims” such as the ones made by the Greeks. Turkey has issued a rather fanciful map of its own claims.
