ISTANBUL — The eastern Mediterranean was once more the site of maritime spats this week as overlapping territorial claims between Turkey, Greece and the Republic of Cyprus fostered renewed tensions in the region.
On Monday the Turkish navy turned back a Greek Cypriot-contracted research vessel that Ankara said was infringing on its continental shelf without permission in waters southwest of Cyprus. The Nautical Geo, a Maltese-flagged research vessel, was “taken away” from what Ankara defines as its territorial waters, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said without providing further details on how the vessel was removed.
The Nautical Geo was anchored Tuesday in the Cypriot port of Lanarca, according to the tracking site marinetraffic.com. The confrontation was the vessel’s second with the Turkish navy, which also stopped the Nautical Geo near the Greek island of Crete last week.
In a joint press conference Monday with the Republic of Cyprus, Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias denounced the Turkish navy’s actions ahead of bilateral talks between Turkey and Greece set for Oct. 6 and aimed at de-escalating territorial disputes.
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