Turkey says Greece-Cyprus cable NAVTEX row is resolved, Athens says it alone licenses the work

Ankara's counter-notice and Fidan's remarks

Turkey issued a counter-NAVTEX on the afternoon of Friday, 6 November, in reply to a Greek notice for the French research vessel Abeille Marengo, which is to survey for the Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection. The Turkish notice says part of the area covered by Greek NAVTEX 1411/26 lies within Turkey's continental shelf, as declared to the United Nations on 18 March 2020. It also says Turkey has not licensed the specific surveys and demands that related activity be coordinated with Turkish authorities. On Saturday, 7 November, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, answering questions from Kathimerini and SKAI's correspondent in Turkey, said that everything was normal and good. Turkish diplomatic sources said the NAVTEX issue had been resolved, without giving further detail.

Athens rejects the claim

Greek diplomatic sources replied that Greece is the only licensing country, had acted as international law requires and would continue to do so. They added that Turkey's internal handling of the matter does not concern Athens. Deputy Foreign Minister Tasos Chatzivasileiou went further in a statement to ERT, saying that the project was not a matter of licensing agreed with Ankara. He stated that sovereign rights in the cable area are exercised solely by Greece and Cyprus.

Chatzivasileiou told ERT before Fidan's remarks, in these words:

“There was no understanding between Greece and Turkey about licensing. Permission was requested and granted only by Greece.”

He said Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis had stated that the project would go ahead according to plan, with Greece protecting its rights and national interest. Chatzivasileiou also said the project now carries French and European interests, given its EU funding, and has the support of allies and partners, including the Americans. Asked about the Turkish counter-notice, he said it rests on arguments and a map Turkey submitted to the UN in 2020, which he described as wholly incompatible with international law.

Opposition questions and drone flights

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) said Fidan's remarks raised reasonable questions, given Turkey's demands for prior notification and a matching counter-NAVTEX. The party asked whether the French company Meridiam had informed the Turkish state in a way that let Ankara claim jurisdiction, and said the government must answer that question directly. From the morning of Saturday, 7 November, Turkish unmanned aircraft were active across the northeastern and southeastern Aegean, with flights reported from Kesani to Karpathos. According to reports, a Turkish UAV marked VATOZ17 flew south of Karpathos and made repeated surveillance circles over the area where the cable is to be laid. The aircraft was reportedly an AKINCI or ANKA type that took off from the Dalaman naval base, and it appeared to switch its systems on and off at intervals.

What remains open

The articles do not say how the NAVTEX issue was resolved or whether Turkey's counter-notice remains in force. Turkish diplomatic sources gave no further details, and neither side has published the text of any agreement. Greek sources have not said whether the Abeille Marengo survey is proceeding, and the articles give no start date for the cable works. The 2020 UN map at the centre of the dispute remains the basis of Ankara's claim, which Athens has rejected.