A Navtex, a legal advisory message to mariners, issued by Türkiye on Tuesday, defused brewing tensions for now between Türkiye and Greece over maritime rights. The notice by Türkiye cleared the way for the French survey vessel Abeille Marengo to work in the Mediterranean. A report by the Hürriyet newspaper said on Wednesday that Türkiye has been in touch with French authorities over the route of a cable line partially crossing Türkiye’s continental shelf. The vessel works in the Mediterranean as part of the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) project, which aims to link Greece to the Greek Cypriot part of Cyprus. The undersea project is a sensitive issue as Türkiye is concerned that it would violate maritime jurisdiction of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
With the new Navtex, the French vessel will be free to carry out work in coordinates designated by Türkiye until March 19, 2027. It left the Greek island of Crete, where it had been anchored since Oct. 27 following the Navtex, and headed to the eastern Mediterranean.
In September, Greek media outlets reported that Athens and Paris had considered a “light redesign” of the GSI that would keep the cable outside an area covered by Türkiye’s Fethiye-Kaş marine park, declared south of the Greek island of Meis in August. The newspaper said the proposed adjustment was intended to reduce the risk of a new dispute rather than signal Greek recognition of Turkish jurisdiction in the area.
On Aug. 16, two presidential decrees published in the Official Gazette have reaffirmed Türkiye’s maritime rights in the Aegean Sea. One decree designated an area between the Fethiye district of Muğla and the Kaş district of Antalya in the south of the Aegean as a national marine park, while another applied the same designation to an area in the North Aegean Sea, near the coasts of Tekirdağ and Çanakkale.
The project, intended to connect the island of Cyprus with Europe’s electricity grid and eventually extend to Israel, has faced geopolitical and financial challenges. French infrastructure investor Meridiam acquired a 66% stake in GSI in August, increasing Paris’ involvement in the project.
Athens and its partners decided to alter the route of the planned undersea cable following objections from Ankara, according to reports.
The reported decision to adjust the route came after a warning issued by Türkiye’s Defense Ministry on Sept. 24.
In the statement, the ministry said any cable- or pipeline-laying activities within Türkiye’s continental shelf must be coordinated with Ankara, also underlining that Türkiye would continue to protect its rights and interests stemming from its maritime jurisdiction and continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“No unauthorized activity that disregards our country’s rights will be permitted,” the ministry said.
Ankara and Athens seek to improve relations after years of hostilities, but maritime jurisdictions remain a thorny issue. The countries, which came close to an all-out war in the 1990s over the Aegean Sea, remain vigilant, with Türkiye concentrating on developing its domestic defense industry. Greece, on the other hand, relies on foreign partners to bolster its defenses.
