LAST UPDATE: 10:48
The Heraklion station of the Navy Hydrographic Service issued an anti-Navtex in response to the illegal Navtex issued by the Antalya station for surveys to be carried out by Oruc Reis in an area within the Greek continental shelf.
Specifically, the Greek Navtex states that the Turkish Navtex is “illegal” and concerns “unauthorized activity” that “covers the Greek continental shelf”.
It is also emphasized that the Heraklion station has the jurisdiction to issue messages in the specific sea area.
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes the new Turkish Navtex for illegal surveys south of Kastellorizo on the Greek continental shelf, at a distance of only 6.5 nm from Greek shores, as a “major escalation and direct threat to peace and security in the region.”
“Just a few days after the meeting of the foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey, during which the Turkish side promised to propose a date for exploratory contacts, its unreliability is underlined again as well as the fact that Turkey sincerely does not want dialogue,” as stated in a relevant announcement.
“Turkey insists on aggressive and illegal tactics of past centuries, clearly confirming its role as the pre-eminent factor of instability and delinquency in the region. From Libya to the Aegean and Cyprus, Syria, Iraq and now Nagorno-Karabakh,” the announcement read, “Turkey constantly ignores international law, international law of the sea and Good neighborliness rules.” It obstructs any attempt at dialogue while showing contempt for the calls of the International Community. It is provocatively indifferent to the European Union’s exhortations to comply with international law as a self-evident condition of every step-change in EU-Turkey relations.”
“We call on Turkey to immediately reverse its decision, to immediately put an end to its illegal actions, through which it constantly undermines peace and security in the region,” said the Foreign Ministry, “Greece, as a modern European state, will not be blackmailed. It will continue to defend its sovereignty and sovereign rights while contributing to the consolidation of regional security and stability. “
