Turkey issued counter-NAVTEX 1105/26 within minutes of Greece publishing its maritime notice on Friday, directly challen...

Turkey issued counter-NAVTEX 1105/26 within minutes of Greece publishing its maritime notice on Friday, directly challenging Athens' authority to authorize seabed surveys for the Great Sea Interconnector, the planned electricity link between Crete and Cyprus. Ankara claims that part of the survey area falls within its continental shelf, citing a letter it submitted to the United Nations in March 2020. Turkey describes the Greek NAVTEX as unauthorized and says it has not given consent for the research work, insisting that any operations in waters it considers its own must be coordinated with Turkish authorities. These are Turkish claims, not positions accepted by Greece or Cyprus. Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis issued the licensing decision on November 6, 2026, following a positive recommendation from the interministerial committee responsible for marine research permits. The authorization covers survey and cable-laying operations from November 6, 2026 to March 6, 2027, along a route running from southeastern Crete through waters east of Rhodes and south of the Dodecanese, toward the boundary of Cyprus's Exclusive Economic Zone. The French research vessel Abeille Marengo is tasked with conducting the seabed surveys, resuming work from the point where operations were halted in 2024, in the area south of the Greek island of Kasos. Greece bases its authority on the Turkish-Libyan maritime memorandum of 2019, which Athens rejects as unlawful and without legal effect on its maritime entitlements. Gerapetritis coordinated with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos by phone before the notices were issued. Turkey also issued a separate counter-NAVTEX against a Cypriot notice related to the East to Med Corridor telecommunications cable project, which would connect Saudi Arabia and Greece, claiming that the Cypriot station issuing the notice lacked authority. No physical obstruction or clash involving the survey vessel has been reported. #GreeceTurkey #GreatSeaInterconnector #EasternMediterranean