Continental shelf

The Turkey to systematically challenge Greek sovereign rights in the Eastern Mediterranean on the occasion of the work of the Italian research vessel C/S TELIRI by issuing a new NAVTEX in an area it calls “Turkish continental shelf” and which overlaps the Greek continental shelf south of Rhodes and Kastelorizo and southeast of Crete.

“Greece rejects the Turkish unilateral objections for the delimitation of the continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean”

Blasting a Greek move on its maritime territory as "provocative," Turkey on Sept. 20 issued a counter naval alert for its continental shelf area in the Aegean.

The United Kingdom has announced the extension of sanctions on persons involved in illegal drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, namely in Cyprus, beyond December 31, when the transitional period for the UK's formal exit from the European Union expires.

The "Blue Homeland" doctrine is the ultimate expression of overblown Turkish aspirations. It encapsulates maximalist claims that are in flagrant violation of the Law of the Sea, such as the ludicrous theory that islands are not entitled to a continental shelf and, therefore, that the Greek islands east of the 25th meridian are in areas under Turkey's maritime jurisdiction.

An article by Vassilis Nedos which appeared in Kathimerini's Sunday edition on May 10, titled "Ankara's militarization on Athens' radar," refers to Rear Admiral Cihat Yayci's book "Requirements of Greece: The Problems in the Aegean with Questions and Answers," which was published recently by the Turkish Navy.

Athens rejects Turkish claims set out in the maritime borders agreement signed last year between Ankara and the Tripoli-based government in Libya "in their entirety," Greece's permanent representative to the United Nations, Maria Theofili, said in a recent letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) has extensive and long-term plans in the Eastern Mediterranean that do not only include Cyprus' exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but also areas on the edge of the Greek continental shelf, Kathimerini understands.