Diplomacy helps end Aegean standoff
Greek, Turkish FMs kept in touch as warships deployed off islands, but Turkish claims remain
The intensity of the diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions between Greece and Turkey over the past few days attests to the seriousness of the incident.
A flotilla of Turkish naval vessels gathered off the islands of Kassos and Karpathos, in the southeastern Aegean, when Ievoli Relume, an Italian vessel, started conducting research for the future deployment of underwater cables for the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), the electricity connection between Crete and Cyprus.
The deployment sought to enforce Turkey’s claim that just off Greek territorial waters, its continental shelf begins. The Greek and Turkish foreign ministers, George Gerapetritis and Hakan Fidan, repeatedly communicated with each other, as did lower-level officials, to prevent the situation from getting out of hand.
Sailing just outside the two islands’ territorial waters Monday, Ievoli Relume was warned on the wireless that it had entered Turkey’s continental shelf. It had been authorized to conduct research in the area via a navigational warning (Navtex) issued by Greece’s Navy.
According to diplomatic sources, Ievoli Relume concluded its research at 3.40 a.m. Wednesday and sailed for the port of Iraklio, Crete. It had been operating throughout inside Greece’s exclusive maritime zone, whose extent Turkey was actively disputing through the presence of its warships.
Ievoli Relume did not make full use of the time allocated through the Greek Navtex because it had concluded its mission. This is not an unusual event. In any case, the research ship left the area after bilateral diplomatic talks had concluded. Just before midnight, that is about four hours before the ship’s departure, Antalya naval station had issued its own Navtex, apparently in order to claim that the research had been concluded with Turkey’s permission.
Having helped prevent the escalation, diplomats in Athens are now trying to avoid any new tensions cropping up before the meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in September, on the sidelines of the United Nations annual General Assembly.
On the Turkish side, officials told media they did not expect any developments that would heighten tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.
