Turkey is disputing Greece’s right to issue maritime safety warnings south of the Greek island of Kastellorizo, as Turkish newspaper Hürriyet frames the row as “This space is mine”.
Hürriyet presented Ankara’s counter-Navtex as a response to a Greek notice for the multinational exercise Eunomia. Turkey also sent its own notice through its Antalya station.
However, Ankara went further than questioning how the exercise would run. It said the Greek station at Heraklion lacked authority. It then reissued a notice for the same sea area through Antalya, claiming the right to issue warnings there.
Kastellorizo Navtex dispute
The distinction matters. Ankara did not announce that it was annexing any sea area. Instead, it tried to impose its own view on who may issue Navtex notices.
Greece, France, Italy and Cyprus plan the Eunomia exercise under their Quadripartite Initiative. Planning for the exercise began last spring. Live firing is due south of Kastellorizo on 19 October, as Greek City Times reported.
Kastellorizo, in the Dodecanese, is Greece’s easternmost inhabited island, just off the Turkish coast.
The Great Sea Interconnector
The Turkish report also links the dispute to the Great Sea Interconnector, the planned power cable between Greece and Cyprus. In fact, the disputed area overlaps part of the cable’s survey route.
According to Hürriyet, Ankara expects diplomatic coordination with France before any work in waters Turkey claims as its continental shelf. France is the flag state of the research vessel.
Athens, by contrast, takes a different view. French company Nexans submitted its applications only to the relevant Greek authorities, according to the Greek position. Also, no licensing agreement exists with any third country.
As a result, the row is about more than the exercise notices. It ties into the long-running disagreement between Greece and Turkey over maritime jurisdiction. It also touches on the rules for underwater surveys in the eastern Mediterranean.
Source: Pentapostagma
Athens Bureau
Athens Bureau is Greek City Times’ news desk in Athens, reporting on Greek politics, society, economy, culture, and breaking national news for readers in Greece and the diaspora.