Turkey sent seismic vessel Oruc Reis once again for a survey on the Greek continental shelf, a move that aroused tensions between Athens and Ankara. Late on Sunday night, Turkey issued a navigation warning, a NAVTEX saying that the Oruc Reis will "carry activities in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, including the south of the Greek island of Kastellorizo.
The Oruc Reis will be accompanied by two warships and it will be operating just 6.5 nautical miles off Kastelloriso and south-east of Rhodes.
Monday morning, Greece responded with a counter NAVTEX saying that Turkey is not eligible to issue such navigation warning for this area, that the Turkish NAVTEX was illegal and made unauthorised activities on the Greek continental shelf.
In a statement, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Ankara to immediately reverse its decision, end its illegal actions and withdraw the vessels from the area.
"The new illegal Turkish NAVTEX at the distance of just 6.5 nautical miles from the Greek coast is a major escalation and a direct threat to peace and security in the region," the Greek foreign ministry said.
"Just a few days after the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Greece and Turkey, during which the Turkish side promised to propose a date for exploratory contacts, its unreliability is demonstrated again, as well as the fact that Turkey is not interested in a dialogue. It insists on aggressive and illegal tactics of past centuries, clearly confirming its role as a preeminent factor on the stability and delinquency in the region from Libya to the Aegean and Cyprus, Syria, Iraq and now Nagorno Karabakh" the ministry added.
Stressing that "Turkey systematically ignores international law, maritime law and the rules of good neighbourliness" the Greek Foreign Ministry also noted that Turkey "is provocatively indifferent to the European Union's urges to comply with international law, as a self-evident condition of every step forward in European-Turkish relations."
"We call on Turkey to immediately reverse its decision, to immediately end illegal actions, actions which systematically undermine peace and security in the area." Athens said, adding "Greece will not be blackmailed and it will continue to defend its sovereignty and sovereign rights while contributing to the consolidation of regional security and stability."
How very unfortunate for Greece to have such an aggressive and delinquent neighbour.
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