Cyprus responded to a Navtex issued by Turkey on Friday evening announcing new research from seismic ship Oruc Reis north of Cyprus
According to Cyprus News Agency (CNA), Cyprus issued an anti-Navtex informing that Turkey’s Navtex is violating its sovereign rights.
The Turkish Navtex has a small impact on the Cypriot EEZ, and it reaches from the north of Cyprus — from the Turkish-occupied Kyrenia — to Turkey.
Turkish ships inside Cyprus’ EEZ
Turkey continued its provocative acts against Cyprus only a few days after the harassment of the Nautical Geo research vessel inside the Cypriot EEZ.
Ankara has decided to extend the Navtex it had issued in the wider region in order to block Nautical Geo research, as allowing it is like accepting that the Cypriot EEZ is there contrary to what it claims is its own continental shelf.
Turkish warships were found inside the Cypriot EEZ, specifically two frigates and a corvette.
Turkey flexes its military muscle
After Friday’s Navtex announcing the start of new round of research from Oruc Reis north of Cyprus, Turkey’s Ministry of Defense posted on its Twitter account a short video demonstrating the readiness of the Turkish Navy in the so-called ‘Blue Homeland’.
Kahraman Leventlerimiz Mavi Vatanımız için daima hazır…
Deniz Kuvvetleri Komutanlığımızca, “Şehit Asb.Kd.Bçvş. Hüseyin Bulut Fiilî Silah Eğitimleri” 05-06 Ekim 2021 tarihlerinde Ege ve Doğu Akdeniz’de başarıyla icra edildi.#MSB #TSK pic.twitter.com/Uk60IZe1ph
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) October 8, 2021
“Our brave men are always ready for our Blue Homeland. The training exercise with real fire Hussein Bulut was successfully held on 05-06 October 2021 in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean,” the post states.
Turkish provocative rhetoric escalates
The week that ends was not good for Turkey. The ratification of the defense agreement between Greece and France, and the 63rd round of exploratory talks between Athens and Ankara was not good news for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey responded with the usual inflammatory rhetoric, raising the tones and accusing France and the United States for siding with the “provocative Greeks”.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu left open the possibility of declaring an EEZ on the Turkish continental shelf.
He also turned against the U.S.A. regarding comments made by President Joe Biden against Turkey for its role in Syria.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister stated that his country has delineated fined its western borders before the Turkish-Libyan memorandum, stressing that those who try to violate this line “will be blocked, as we did with Greece and Cyprus”.
At the same time, when asked if Turkey intends to open an EEZ in the same area that has defined its continental shelf, he said that it may declare an EEZ in terms of fisheries and did not rule out the possibility of doing so soon.
Letter to the United Nations
The day of the 63rd round of the Greece-Turkey exploratory talks, Ankara sent a letter to the UN asking for the demilitarization of the Greek islands.
In the letter it is stressed that, since Greece maintains a military presence on specific islands, it loses the rights deriving from the Lausanne and Paris treaties.
On the same day, Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, on the sidelines of a meeting with his Georgian counterpart, attacked Greece, citing “provocations and violations” in the Mediterranean despite Turkish warnings, referring to the research vessel Nautical Geo in Cyprus.
At the same time, the Turkish minister called on Greece to stop “inciting others to act against Turkey”.
Commenting on the Greece-France defense deal, Akar said that, “Greece should not allow some countries to incite it to work against us “.
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