Amid growing tensions between Ankara and Athens, Greece plans to extend its territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles south and west of the island of Crete in March, local media reported on Sunday.
The government made this decision based on favorable international and regional developments and to gain the upper hand over the opposition by responding to a long-standing demand ahead of legislative elections scheduled for summer 2023, the media outlet reported in In.Gr line, citing sources from the presidential office.
According to the media outlet, a unilateral decision by Egypt on December 11 to demarcate its western maritime borders with neighboring Libya and the exploration work of American energy giant ExxonMobil off the coast of Crete also motivated the decision.
Greek authorities did not expect a particularly harsh reaction from neighboring Turkey, amid heightened tensions over several issues, including the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus and arms buildup, says the publication.
The move would also contribute significantly to Athens’ broader regional strategy aimed at curbing Ankara and its influence over Libya. Since early November, Exxon Mobil has been conducting seismic surveys two blocks off the coast of Crete in hopes of discovering energy resources.
In response, Libya accused Greece of exploiting the Libyan crisis to impose a fait accompli and denounced the “irresponsible behavior” of Athens, which reached an agreement with international companies to launch research and development efforts. exploration on the maritime borders that separate them.
Turkey and Greece are at odds over several issues, including competing claims to jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean, overlapping claims to their continental shelves, maritime borders, airspace, energy, ethnically divided island of Cyprus, the status of the Aegean Islands. and migrants.
Relations deteriorated after Erdoğan said Mitsotakis “no longer exists” for him, when Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pushed to block sales of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey during a visit to the United States, although he had previously agreed with Erdoğan “not to include third parties”. country in our dispute.
In May, Erdoğan severed ties with Mitsotakis and declared all other communication channels between the countries closed.
The most recent incidents that have sparked tensions include two Greek coast guard boats opening fire on a cargo ship in international waters, continued pushbacks of Greek elements recorded by Turkish drones, and previous harassment of aircraft Turkish combat aircraft during a NATO mission by the Russian-made Greek company S. -300s.
On another side, Turkey on Friday accused the Greek Cypriot administration of increasing tensions. in the eastern Mediterranean after a consortium of Italian and French energy companies discovered more natural gas off the island earlier this week.
The Greek Cypriot administration’s oil activities “were carried out unilaterally” and “violate the rights of Turkish Cypriots, who are one of the co-owners of all natural resources on the island”, the Foreign Ministry said.
“These activities also increase tensions and threaten peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean,” he said in a statement, adding that Turkey “would not allow hydrocarbon exploration or exploitation activities on its continental shelf without consent.
A consortium of Italy’s Eni and France’s TotalEnergies has discovered more natural gas off the coast of Cyprus, the country’s energy ministry announced on Wednesday.
The exploration program of the Greek Cypriot administration is strongly contested by Turkey, which cites overlapping jurisdictions either on its own continental shelf or in the waters of the Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
The island of Cyprus is doomed to a decades-long struggle between its two peoples, the Turkish and Greek Cypriots. Ethnic attacks that began in the 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to retreat into enclaves for safety, and a 1974 coup aimed at annexing Greece led to Turkey’s military intervention.
The conflict has lasted for many years and has sparked multiple international efforts to find a solution. The U.N. has worked for years to reach a comprehensive agreement on the Cyprus issue, proposing a reunification plan for a federation and sponsoring peace talks that ultimately failed.
While Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration support the UN suggestion of a federal Greek Cypriot administration, the TRNC and its guarantor Türkiye have resolutely called for a two-state solution, emphasizing that “sovereign equality and equal international status of Turkish Cypriots” are non-negotiable. »
As a guarantor power, Turkey is also at odds with its Aegean neighbor Greece, both over the Cyprus issue and over gas and oil exploration rights in their shared waters.
