The mass daily Bild on Wednesday claimed that a direct intervention by German chancellor Angela Merkel defused a burgeoning crisis in the eastern Mediterranean between Greece and Turkey, after Ankara issued a Navtex for hydrocarbon research in a sea region between Cyprus and Crete – an act that Athens considers as illegal and provocative.
The seismic research a Turkish vessel included a sea region to the south and southeast of the Greek isle of Kastellorizo, which lies in the extreme southeast Aegean.
The dispatch, entitled “Erdogan’s warship had already sailed: Merkel stops military clash between Turks and Greeks”, claims that the German leader phoned both Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in order to avoid any conflict between the two “heavily armed and readying for a fight” neighbors.
Meanwhile, the Greek government on Wednesday announced that Mitsotakis will receive political leaders for separate briefings over results of the recent European summit and developments on national issues, primarily the latest Turkish provocations in the eastern Mediterranean, especially an illegal Navtex issued by Ankara.
