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Naval vessels from each international locations made a present of drive in the contested region of the Eastern Mediterranean on Tuesday as a race for fuel and oil reserves provides a brand new level of friction to outdated disputes.
While the NATO allies have been participating in gunboat diplomacy that has pulled extra international locations into the dispute, Germany has been trying to de-escalate the tensions that threaten to spill over regionally.
“The conversation windows between Greece and Turkey must now be opened further — and not closed. In addition, instead of new provocations, we now finally need steps to relax and an initiation of direct discussions,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas tweeted forward of visits to each Athens and Ankara on Tuesday in an effort to get the two international locations again to the negotiation desk.
Tensions flared when Ankara introduced that it’s extending the length of a seismic exploration mission in the disputed waters initially anticipated to finish on Monday in a maritime navigational be aware utilizing the world NAVTEX system. The Oruc Reis survey vessel is accompanied by naval ships and the Turkish protection ministry introduced maritime workout routines in the space.
“Turkish and allied navy ships will conduct maritime trainings at eastern Mediterranean on 25 August 2020 in order to promote coordination and interoperability,” the protection ministry stated in a tweet on Tuesday.
Greece considers the Turkish fuel exploration unlawful. Athens has responded by issuing a counter NAVTEX message and saying naval workout routines in the identical location to the south of Turkey and the Greek island of Kastellorizo, which lies simply over one mile from the Turkish coast.
“Greece is responding calmly and with readiness both on a diplomatic and on an operational level. And with national confidence it does everything needed to defend its sovereign rights,” Greek authorities spokesman Stelios Petsas informed reporters on Monday in response to Reuters.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to as the Greek response “spoilt” and stated it “endangers navigational safety” for ships in the space. “As of now, Greece will be the only one responsible for any negative development in the region,” Erdogan stated on Monday.
German efforts to result in an settlement between Greece and Turkey failed earlier in July. Turkey paused seismic surveys for fuel in the disputed space whereas negotiations have been ongoing. But, in response to the Turkish authorities, these talks failed after Greece signed a partial maritime demarcation settlement with Egypt.
Since then Turkey has been finishing up surveys in the contested waters. “Our drill ships continue their operations as planned. Our case is strong under international law. Greece gangs up with certain countries to seem right, because it lacks credibility,” Turkey’s Energy Minister Fatih Donmez stated on Tuesday.
Donmez seemed to be referring to the assist Greece, which is a member of the European Union, has acquired from France and the United Arab Emirates.
In a present of solidarity with Greece, France stated it is going to increase its navy presence in the Eastern Mediterranean in response to Turkey’s hydrocarbon exploration and despatched in fighter jets and warships to the Greek island of Crete in mid-August.
The territorial dispute between Turkey, Greece and the divided island of Cyprus has been rumbling regionally for years. But, “the region’s offshore natural gas resources have changed everything [in the eastern Mediterranean] over the course of the past five years,” says Michael Tanchum, a senior fellow at the Austrian Institute for European and Security Studies. This has turned it into “a key battleground in which larger geopolitical fault lines involving the EU and the Middle East and North Africa region converge,” he added.
The disputed space can be linked to territorial claims from Cyprus. The island stays divided between the Greek-speaking EU member and internationally acknowledged Republic of Cyprus in the south, and the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is acknowledged solely by Turkey.
The Republic of Cyprus has granted worldwide firms, akin to Italy’s ENI and France’s Total, licenses to use fuel reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Turkish authorities has argued that this cuts out Turkish Cypriots from hydrocarbon assets in the region.
“Both France and its close partner the United Arab Emirates compete with Turkey for influence throughout the Middle East and Africa. The Eastern Mediterranean is where France and the UAE can pressure Turkey in a region that Turkey views as vital for its national interests. This has put Turkey back on its heels and Ankara has responded by doubling down with repeated rounds of escalation,” Tanchum stated.
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