The continental shelf south of Karpathos is «Turkish», says Ankara

By Makis Pollatos

Ankara today has added yet another claim against the Greek sovereign rights. With absolute clarity, the Turkish government claimed the continental shelf belonging to Greece, by extending the limit of the Turkish one to the Greek territorial sea to the east of Crete!

The work of the Italian research vessel «Explora» on a continental shelf in the region which is under Greek sovereignty, was just the pretext the Turkish leadership was looking for to roll back its expansionist appetites against the non-negotiable Greek sovereignty.

Until Wednesday and Thursday evening, the «Explora» will perform additional work for a future placement of optic fibers that will connect Italy with Israel. According to the Greek Foreign Ministry, Turkey unlawfully and unilaterally issued notices to mariners (NAVTEX) to indicate that the Italian vessel will conduct research in an area that is above the allegedly Turkish shelf.

The curious thing is that the Turkish NAVTEX was issued on Tuesday afternoon, March 22, before the Greek announcement , which would inform the ships sailing near the path of the Italian ship, was publicised. Reportedly, the Greek NAVTEX followed the Turkish one.

«This listing of Turkey is illegal. They have no jurisdiction over the area and such actions, which do not adhere to the rules of international law, cannot have legal consequences. They do not affect Greek rights, which are based on international law. Our country is acting solely within the provisions of Maritime Law and the UN Charter, and shall take all necessary action to defend its sovereign rights», notes Foreign Ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras in a statement aimed at disclosing that the Greek Embassy in Ankara issued a demarche today, Wednesday, to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

The incident that has mobilized the Greek authorities cannot be deemed accidental. Please note that on Saturday, March 12, and while the Italian «Explora» was sailing in an area to the southeast of Rhodes and Karpathos, it was approached by the Turkish «Badirma». Under the threat of violence, the Italian crew was instructed to leave the area, because they were supposedly over the Turkish shelf. Despite this, the episode did not escalate.

The Greek side, after a three-day delay (ie, on Tuesday, March 15) issued a demarche to the Turkish Foreign Ministry in response to the challenge of Ankara. As evidenced by subsequent events, Turkish diplomacy was not intimidated by the Greek protest. It is also clear that Turkey did not wish to simply record its disagreement with the limits of the Greek continental shelf (even though it was recognized by a third country, in this case Italy, which has agreed with the Greek side and the international law).

The new round of research by the Italian «Explora», on Wednesday and Thursday, March 23&24, is expected to test the limits of Greek tolerance once more.