Turkey will expand its research in a disputed area of the eastern Mediterranean. What exacerbate tensions with Greece, which calls for the EU.
The Turkey is going to expand its search for hydrocarbons in a disputed area of the eastern Mediterranean in the coming weeks, at the risk of aggravating tensions with Greece, announced on Tuesday the Turkish minister of foreign Affairs.
“from the end of August, we will issue permits to conduct new research and drilling in new areas (…) in the western part of our continental shelf,” said Mevlut Cavusoglu, at a press conference in Ankara. “We are determined to defend our interests”, he added.
Tensions in the eastern Mediterranean
These statements come at a time when tensions have risen a notch in recent weeks in the eastern Mediterranean, where Turkish activities arouse the anger of Greece, which had called on Tuesday the european Union to convene a summit of emergency.
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Athens had the day before accused Ankara of “threatening peace” in the eastern Mediterranean, considering that the presence as of Monday in the maritime area of the seismic vessel research Turkish Oruç Reis was “a new serious escalation” and “showed” the “role destabilizing” of the Turkey. Greece “will not accept any blackmail” and “will defend its sovereignty and its sovereign rights”, added the Greek ministry of foreign Affairs after a meeting of the heads of the armed forces convened emergency.
Monday, a seismic vessel Turkish, Oruç Reis, began its research in an area located off the Turkish city of Antalya, between the islands of Crete, in southern Greece, and Cyprus. Five ships of war, Turkish escort the Oruç Reis, according to the Turkish ministry of Defence, which has published photos of the fleet. The vessels seismic research mission is to identify possible mineral deposits under the sea floor.
Agreement sea between Athens and Cairo
After a few days of suspension, the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Friday the resumption of research turks in the eastern Mediterranean, in response to the signing of an agreement by sea between Athens and Cairo, which has aroused the wrath of Ankara. The Turkish president, however, said it was open Monday for a “dialogue based on equity.”
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The discovery in recent years of vast gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean has sharpened the appetite of the riparian countries, such as Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt and Israel. Ankara had last year signed an agreement on maritime controversial with the government of Tripoli, which is expanding its maritime territory in the eastern Mediterranean. The exploratory drilling turks off Cyprus have drawn the ire of most of the countries of the region and of the european Union, which denounce of the activities “illegal”.
