Turkey restarts hunt for Mediterranean gas, reigniting Greek row
Turkey will redeploy the research ship at the centre of an energy row with Greece to the eastern Mediterranean on Monday, a decision slammed by Athens as a "direct threat to peace".
The row over gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean
saw the two NATO countries stage rival military drills in August in strategic
waters between Cyprus and the Greek island of Crete.
Greece claims rights over the waters around its island of
Kastellorizo but Turkey says its longer coastline makes the territory a
legitimate area for its vessels to explore.
The Turkish navy said the Oruc Reis ship will carry out
activities in the region, including the south of Kastellorizo, until October 22
in a message sent to the maritime alert system NAVTEX late on Sunday.
The vessel will be joined in the latest "seismic
survey" mission by two other ships called Ataman and Cengiz Han, the
message said.
Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez delivered a defiant
message via Twitter on Monday that Turkey "will continue to search, dig
and protect our rights".
"If there is (natural gas), we will absolutely find
it," he said.
But Greece's foreign ministry on Monday lambasted the move
as a "direct threat to regional peace and security" and accused
Turkey of being unreliable.
The ministry added in a statement that Ankara did not
"sincerely desire dialogue".
Ankara first deployed the Oruc Reis and warships to disputed
waters on August 10 and extended the mission, ignoring repeated calls to stop
by Greece and the European Union.
- Sanctions threat -
The Oruc Reis was pulled back to shore last month in what
many hoped was a sign the two sides could resolve the issue through dialogue.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the time that
the withdrawal was designed to give diplomacy a chance.
But Turkish officials also insisted the ship was in port for
planned maintenance and would return to the eastern Mediterranean to continue
its work.
In his tweet on Monday, Donmez said maintenance work was
finished and the ship could now restart its scan of the Mediterranean.
The announcement dashed hopes raised when Turkey and Greece
agreed to exploratory talks last month after diplomatic efforts led by Germany
to defuse the crisis.
The talks had been stalled since 2016 and the expectation
was for their resumption in Istanbul but no exact date was given.
The Turkish and Greek foreign ministers also met last week
on the sidelines of a security forum in Slovakia's capital Bratislava in the
highest-level talks since tensions began.
The ministers had agreed that a date should be set for the
start of exploratory talks, according to a Greek foreign ministry source.
At a summit earlier this month, the European Union
threatened sanctions if Turkey failed to stop what the bloc says is illegal
drilling and energy exploration activities in waters claimed by Cyprus and
Greece.
Turkey described the threat as "unconstructive"
but its latest move will cause further strains in Ankara's already tense
relationship with Brussels.
The German foreign minister is expected to visit Ankara on
Wednesday, according to Turkish state broadcaster TRT, where the eastern
Mediterranean will be high on the agenda.
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