ANKARA (Sputnik) – Turkey’s Oruc Reis research vessel will continue its seismic exploration in the disputed area of the Eastern Mediterranean, near the Greek islands of Rhodes and Kastellorizo, until 14 November, the navy’s Office of Navigation, Hydrography and Oceanography has announced.
Turkey has issued a new Navtex message, saying that Oruc Reis, along with Ataman and Cengizhan vessels, will conduct exploration on 1-14 November.
The Greek Foreign Ministry has responded by calling out Turkey’s actions as illegal.
Turkey’s research vessel, Oruc Reis, rear, anchored off the coast of Antalya on the Mediterranean, Turkey, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020. Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed the return of a Turkish survey vessel to port Sunday from a disputed area of the eastern Mediterranean that has been at the heart of a summer stand-off between Greece and Turkey over energy rights.
Previously, Ankara announced it would conduct surveys in the disputed area of the Eastern Mediterranean from 12-22 October and then extended them two times.
Turkey has been engaged in a bitter maritime borders dispute with Greece and Cyprus in connection with the size of their exclusive economic zones in the Eastern Mediterranean. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that that the region has considerable gas deposits.
The European Union warned Ankara that it may slap sanctions on the country if it continues extending operations, but Turkey claimed that it has every right to those natural resources.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
