Greek opposition attacks government after MP Syrigos admits 2024 Kasos naval retreat
New Democracy MP Angelos Syrigos confirmed that Greek seabed surveys were halted after Turkish warship interventions near Kasos in 2024, prompting PASOK and ELAS to accuse the government of diplomatic failure.
Syrigos statement on Kasos incidents
In a broadcast on state television channel ERTnews, New Democracy lawmaker and international law professor Angelos Syrigos stated that Greece halted seabed surveys after confrontations with Turkish naval forces near the island of Kasos in 2024. The operations were intended to prepare the seabed for the planned electricity interconnector linking the electrical grids of Greece and Cyprus. Syrigos detailed two separate episodes in 2024, noting that Turkey dispatched five warships in July to prevent survey operations and deployed naval vessels again during a second incident in November. When asked by the interviewer whether Greek authorities backed down, Syrigos confirmed the decision, explaining that Athens chose not to continue the surveys in the hope of resolving the dispute through diplomatic channels and international maritime law. He observed that between 2003 and 2023, seven underwater cables were laid across the region without Turkish interference, while asserting that Greece will not surrender its sovereign rights moving forward.
In both incidents we backed down, we did not proceed with the continuation of seabed surveys because we considered that the issue could be resolved through dialogue and the provisions of international law that stipulate what happens with the laying of cables.
- Seven underwater cables are laid in the region without interference
- Five Turkish warships halt seabed survey operations off Kasos
- Turkish naval forces disrupt Greek seabed research in a second incident
- Lawmaker Angelos Syrigos confirms Greece paused surveys following Turkish pressure
PASOK challenges government narrative
The lawmaker's remarks drew swift reactions from the opposition, led by PASOK-KINAL spokesperson Kostas Tsoukalas, who argued that Syrigos's acknowledgement dismantled official claims regarding the project's timeline. Tsoukalas maintained that the admission directly refutes earlier government assertions that placed blame on the Cypriot administration in Nicosia for delays in laying the cable. The spokesperson emphasized that the cross-border electricity link represents an initiative with deep geopolitical significance alongside its economic utility. Citing party leadership, Tsoukalas called for the immediate release of a transparent implementation schedule that guarantees the protection of sovereign rights. He concluded that Greece requires governance capable of firmly resisting territorial and maritime assertions under Turkey's Blue Homeland doctrine.
The statements by Mr. Syrigos regarding the country's retreat in Kasos expose the government and immediately invalidate the government narratives about Cyprus being responsible for not laying the cable.
Opposition calls for foreign policy review
The Hellenic Left Coalition (ELAS) also criticized the government's management of the maritime standoff and its subsequent public communications. Pausanias Papageorgiou, deputy foreign policy representative for ELAS, characterized the admission as evidence of an institutional failure to exercise national sovereign rights under international legal rules. Papageorgiou accused the government of neglecting to hold Turkey to structured dialogue, failing to pursue international sanctions for naval disruption, and presenting a distorted picture of events to Greek citizens. ELAS spokesperson Theoni Koufonikolakou posted a video statement challenging the credibility of official statements, contrasting Syrigos's account with the rhetoric of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Koufonikolakou questioned whether the public had been deliberately misled about the 2024 incidents and asserted that current foreign policy approaches lead to concessions and diplomatic impasses.
