Turkey continues its search for hydrocarbons

The Turkish seismic vessel Oruc Reis near the Greek island of Kastellorizo.

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Ignoring international calls to ease tensions with Greece, Turkey announced on Monday the extension of its gas exploration in an area rich in hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean.

The three seismic vessels

,

and

continue their activities until September 12, the Turkish navy announced in a maritime notice (Navtex).

Deployment of Turkish ships extended

The initial deployment of the

to the south of the Greek island of Kastellorizo ​​on August 10 aroused the ire of Athens and triggered an escalation of tensions between the two countries.

A few hours before the announcement of the Turkish navy, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that

"continued his activities with determination".

"If God allows it, we hope to have good news in a short time from the Mediterranean, as we have had from the Black Sea," he said, referring to the recent discovery by Turkey in the Black Sea. a natural gas reserve estimated at 320 billion cubic meters.

Turkey and Greece are fighting over the sharing of gas reserves discovered in recent years in the eastern Mediterranean.

Sanctions against Turkey

Athens maintains that it has the right to exploit the natural resources around its islands located near the Turkish coast.

But Ankara refuses, believing that this would amount to depriving Turkey of tens of thousands of km2 of sea and to "imprison it inside its coasts".

Concerned about growing tensions, the European Union threatened on Friday to impose further sanctions on Turkey if there was no progress in the dialogue between Ankara and Athens.

"We will never give in to piracy and banditry in the Mediterranean and the Aegean," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

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