Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez announced the start of the Turkish exploration vessel "Aruj Reis" two-dimensional seismic survey work in the eastern Mediterranean.
The Turkish minister posted a video clip on his official page on Twitter of the ship while it was carrying out its work, and said that "the ship continues to conduct maritime surveys in the maritime areas of Turkey."
The Turkish minister stressed that the ship will survey the eastern Mediterranean, within an area of 1,750 km, until August 23.
Last Monday, Turkey sent the ship to conduct a seismic survey off the island of Cyprus, accompanied by warships, in a move Greece said was illegal and fueled tension.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşolu said Tuesday that his country would defend its rights and the rights of the Turkish part of the island of Cyprus with regard to exploration for natural resources located within Turkey's continental shelf in the eastern Mediterranean.
He added that Greece "acted in bad faith on this issue," referring to the maritime border demarcation agreement signed by the latter with Egypt.
Adım adım Akdeniz. 🇹🇷
Oruç Reis denizlerimizin röntgenini çekiyor. 🚢🔎
23 Ağustos'a kadar toplam 1.750 kilometre 2 boyutlu sismik araştırma için streamer (sismik kablo) Akdeniz'e indi.
Yolunuz açık, enerjiniz yüksek olsun.🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/Kpp2FP69fN
- Fatih Dönmez (@fatih_donmez) August 12, 2020
Greek anger
For his part, the Greek Prime Minister’s office announced that Athens wanted an urgent meeting of the European Union on Turkey, and said, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will submit a request to the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council to hold an emergency summit."
It is noteworthy that Turkey and Greece, which are members of NATO, are in a dispute over their rights to oil and gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean.
Earlier, Greece accused Turkey of threatening peace in the eastern Mediterranean after announcing the dispatch of the exploration ship, and the Greek government announced that "the bulk of its fleet is ready to be deployed when it is necessary."