Turkish research vessel "Oruc Reis" in the eastern Mediterranean
Photo: Ibrahim Laleli / dpaIn view of the dispute over natural gas fields, French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that he will temporarily increase the French military presence in the eastern Mediterranean. Macron expressed his concern about the tension there in a telephone conversation with the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as the Elysée Palace announced. These would be caused by Turkey's unilateral decisions on oil production and would have to be ended.
In order to be able to better assess the situation in the region and to demonstrate determination to ensure compliance with international law, the military presence would be temporarily increased in the coming days, according to the office of the President. This is done in cooperation with European partners, including Greece.
Mitsotakis had previously indicated that he was ready to negotiate with Turkey. However, these could not take place under the influence of Ankara's recent threats. "We are ready to talk to all of our neighbors," Mitsotakis said on state television. For the third day in a row, the Turkish research vessel "Oruc Reis" continued its research on natural gas in the Mediterranean south of the Greek island of Megisti (Kastelorizo). Turkish warships protect it.
Greek warships sent a radio call every 15 minutes to the captain of the "Oruc Reis" to leave the region immediately. However, the calls went unanswered, as it was said in the morning from circles of the Ministry of Defense in Athens.
The search for Turkey is illegal from Athens' point of view because the region belongs to the so-called Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the EU country. The EU has condemned the Turkish actions and asked Ankara to stop them. There was also criticism from Berlin. According to the Turkish interpretation, islands like Crete or Megisti have territorial waters, but no exclusive economic zone.
Only recently had France clashed with Turkey on the Mediterranean: the French frigate "Courbet" wanted to inspect a ship as part of the NATO mission "Sea Guardian", which was suspected of evading the UN embargo of arms to the civil war country Libya to smuggle. According to the French, the Turkish frigate then captured the "Courbet" with its fire control radar on June 10th - which is usually the preliminary stage for an attack. The Turkish government denies that.
After the confrontation with the three Turkish escort ships, the "Courbet" turned away. Thereupon France suspended its participation in the "Sea Guardian" and requested a formal investigation by NATO.
The report on the incident has now been completed and will soon be discussed in the NATO military committee. So far nothing has been known about the content of the report, as it is subject to confidentiality according to NATO.
You can read more about the Franco-Turkish confrontation here: The Frigate Dispute
oka / dpa