Türkiye's objections to maritime jurisdiction areas in the Eastern Mediterranean have initiated a new diplomatic process in the joint electricity connection project between Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus (GCASC). It was reported that the Paris administration contacted Ankara so that the French research ship Abeille Marengo could restart its work.
Greece's Kathimerini newspaper wrote that French Ambassador to Ankara Isabelle Dumont met with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mehmet Kemal Bozay. It was stated that during the meetings, the issue of making official and written notification to Türkiye before research activities came to the fore. It was reported that Ankara wanted the scope and coordinates of the work to be communicated to it in advance.
FRANCE WILL REQUEST PERMISSION FROM Türkiye
Speaking to Kathimerini, a French source stated that the parties had largely agreed on the content of the diplomatic correspondence. The source stated that following Türkiye's request, the process will be carried out through official correspondence and made the following statement:
"We have almost reached an agreement on how the statement will be. We will respond to the diplomatic correspondence. We consider this as a request for permission that must be given by Turkey and we will respond accordingly. Our request in this regard was for everything to proceed smoothly through diplomatic channels."
A diplomatic source close to Türkiye had previously announced that Ankara would consider the written application from France as a request for permission. Türkiye gave the message that if the necessary communication is not established through diplomatic channels, research activities may be intervened again.
FRANCE'S STEP CREATED A SHOCKING EFFECT IN ATHENS
France's direct contact with Ankara brought about new discussions in Greece. In the evaluations published in Kathimerini, it was questioned what the Paris administration's written application from Türkiye meant in terms of Ankara's continental shelf claims in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Analyzes in the Greek press suggested that this process could have important consequences in terms of Türkiye's theses regarding maritime jurisdiction areas and the Türkiye-Libya Memorandum on Delimitation of Maritime Jurisdiction Areas signed in 2019. It is also being discussed in Athens how France's direct talks with Ankara will affect Greece's diplomatic position.
Kathimerini included evaluations that France's written application to Türkiye could mean Ankara's recognition of its continental shelf claims and the Türkiye-Libya agreement. The newspaper also claimed that the Athens administration was left out of this diplomatic process.
THE RESPONSE TO GREECE WAS NOT DELAYED
Greece published NAVTEX for the reactivation of the research ship within the scope of the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) project, which envisages the establishment of an undersea electrical connection between Crete and the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus.
According to the announcement of Iraklio NAVTEX Station, Abeille Marengo would conduct research on the determined route between November 6, 2026 and March 6, 2027. However, Türkiye responded to Greece's announcement via Antalya NAVTEX Station.
In NAVTEX published by Türkiye, it was stated that a part of the research area remained within the continental shelf boundaries, which Ankara reported to the United Nations on March 18, 2020.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also made a written statement regarding the activities of the French-flagged ship. In the statement, it was stated that the ship was planning to conduct unauthorized marine scientific research within Türkiye's continental shelf. It was reported that the unauthorized navigation warnings issued by Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus were canceled by Türkiye, and the necessary consent process for the ship's activities has not been completed yet.
The Ministry's statement included the following statements:
"The process regarding the consent required to be obtained from our country in accordance with the established provisions of international maritime law for the part of the activity that the ship in question plans to carry out within the borders of our continental shelf has not yet been completed. We are fully determined to protect our sovereign rights arising from international law, and we will continue to adopt an approach based on cooperation, dialogue and coordination in the region."
