Greece counters Turkish navtex, says will ‘not be blackmailed’
Greece late on Monday issued a navigational telex from its Iraklio, Crete, station in response to and advisory issued earlier in the day by Turkey extending its illegal seismic surveys in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Hellenic Navy Hydrographic Service (HNHS) published the warning to mariners hours after Turkey sought to extend the exploratory activities of its Oruc Reis seismic survey ship for a third time, to September 12.
The Greek advisory stresses that Turkey’s navtex is illegal as it concerns an area that is withing Greece’s continental shelf.
“Turkey continues to faithfully live up to its role as a troublemaker and an element of instability in the region,” the Greek Foreign Ministry said in an announcement shortly after midnight on Tuesday.
“Greece will not be blackmailed. Relying exclusively on international law, the Law of the Sea and the rules of good neighborly relations, it will continue to seek maritime zone delimitation agreements with every country in the region,” the ministry said.
