In a new update from France to the “coastal” states last night, regarding the search operations conducted by the French vessel Abeille Marengo for the GSI, based on the NAVTEX issued by the Heraklion Station, an attempt was reportedly made to resolve the issue that appeared to have arisen from yesterday’s announcement by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the preceding Turkish NAVTEX.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, in a statement to the SKAI correspondent in Istanbul, Manolis Kostidis, appeared reassuring, stating that “everything is normal, everything is fine,” with Turkish diplomatic sources claiming, according to the same report, that the problem that had arisen has now been resolved.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Greek diplomatic sources, however, were quick to emphasize in response to this statement that “Turkey’s internal management is none of our concern. Greece is the sole licensing country; it has acted as required under international law and will continue to do so.”
READ ALSO: “Everything is fine,” says Fidan regarding the NAVTEX; Turkish sources claim the cable issue has been resolved
The French mediator
Yesterday, the impression was given that the agreement reached through French mediation had fallen through, as Ankara demanded that a formal request for authorization of the surveys be submitted to the Turkish authorities and that a simple notification was not sufficient. It was obvious that this would create a problem, as Turkey simultaneously issued warnings that any exploration throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, including, of course, areas within the demarcated Greek EEZ, would have to be authorized and coordinated by the Turkish authorities.
A diplomatic source notes that yesterday Hakan Fidan was absent from Ankara, visiting the Occupied Territories, and there was likely some confusion regarding both the content of the agreement reached with the French and the specific procedures required.
According to reports, there was a new briefing yesterday from the French side to both Ankara and Nicosia, which, among other things, clarified that with this investigation, France “is not taking a position on issues and claims regarding maritime zones” on either side, while it is not known whether the briefing included the coordinates of the survey route, as the Turkish side had initially demanded.
READ ALSO: When will the Abeille Marengo set sail? The background following the escalation over the GSI and the role of the French
Athens’ assessment, however, is that Turkey—due in part to the international situation, the new political landscape in the U.S. following the midterm elections, the process of forming a government in Israel with the support of Arab parties, the massive and intense reaction from the EU and key regional players to the Turkey-Libya Memorandum, as well as the fact that it is hosting the major climate conference in Antalya, it will not readily opt for a serious escalation.
Instead, it is considered very likely that it will respond in its usual manner—by harassing the research vessel via radio—something it has done in the past, even in the Aegean Sea, during surveys in international waters on the Greek continental shelf for the electrical interconnection with the Aegean islands.
READ ALSO: Tensions Escalate Over GSI: Turkey Deployed a UAV and Is Monitoring the Area Where the Cable Will Be Laid
In any case, everyone is now awaiting the ship’s departure to resume surveys, in order to determine whether the agreement and additional clarifications provided by the French side are sufficient, so as to provide Turkey with a pretext to avoid appearing to back down from its central position regarding its own request for a permit, while at the same time preventing an escalation of tensions, which would have consequences not only for Greece and the GSI project itself, but also for France.
Source: Protothema.gr
