Tensions are intensifying in the Mediterranean Sea, between Turkey and Greece. President Recep Erdogan has chosen to initiate underwater exploration for hydrocarbons on the Greek continental shelf. A provocation that raises an outcry in Europe.
Very strong tensions have again set Greece against Turkey for 24 hours in the eastern Mediterranean. At issue: the Turkish decision to start an underwater hydrocarbon prospecting campaign on the Greek continental shelf.
Yes, this is a new provocation from President Recep Erdogan. He actually publicly announced Wednesday the deployment of a research vessel off the Greek island of Kastellorizo in the Aegean Sea, to drill for gas and oil. What is not said, however, in Turkey's official statement, is that this civilian exploration boat is escorted by a veritable military armada: no less than 18 vessels from the Turkish fleet, loaded with impose a restriction on navigation in this area. Which is totally contrary to maritime law.
Greece therefore reacted, putting its navy on alert and in turn dispatching a squadron to the region, responsible for ensuring respect for its territorial waters but also for freedom of movement. This is for the military side. On the diplomatic side, Athens appealed to the European Union, which has clearly denounced illegal drilling and which even threatens Ankara with economic sanctions. And, interestingly, Germany has also spoken very firmly, while usually Berlin remains extremely cautious in its dealings with Turkey.
It must be said that this is not Turkey's first coup in the Mediterranean.
No, it has even become one of the characteristic features of the foreign policy of President Erdogan, who already carried out the same maneuver off Cyprus last May. It also aims to exploit the hydrocarbon fields off the Libyan coast. And this is also the reason for the Turkish military intervention in Libya, with the sending of jihadist fighters recruited in Syria and the deliveries of arms in violation of the United Nations embargo. Remember that to protect this traffic, Turkish frigates went so far as to intercept a French ship last month.
All the countries bordering the Mediterranean must therefore face a strategy of deliberate tension in the service of the Ottoman ambitions of President Recep Erdogan, served by acts of piracy assumed despite all the risks that this entails. Because the blackmail of the use of force will not remain the prerogative of Turkey alone. Egypt also feels threatened by this expansionist policy and it does not appreciate the support provided on its border to the Libyan Islamist militias. Marshal Sisi, who is not a friend of the Muslim Brotherhood, threatened to intervene militarily in Libya if Turkey did not put an end to this interference. And Wednesday, the Egyptian parliament gave him permission. President Erdogan will therefore perhaps end up reaching the limits of his policy of putting down the wall and the fait accompli.