Sources close to Greece's armed forces general staff on Wednesday were quoted as saying that the situation in a sea region to the south and southeast of the island of Kastellorizo remains unchanged, referring to a large expanse of sea in the eastern Mediterranean for which Turkey issued a Navtex with the intent of hydrocarbon research.
Athens has vociferously called the Navtex illegal, and has gone so far as mobilizing all of its naval units and raising the readiness status of its armed forces. Similarly, Turkey has mobilized a very large contingent of warships in the specific region.
In contravening a bevy of press reports citing a gradual easing of tensions, a Turkish foreign ministry spokesman on Wednesday reiterated that the Oruc Reis vessel will conduct seismic research with a "Turkish continental shelf", while repeated the most recent official Turkish mantra of "maximalist" positions by Athens.
In a "tit-for-tat", meanwhile, Greece's naval oceanographic service issued its own Navtex cancelling the Turkish notice, calling on mariners to ignore it. The Greek notice refers to issuance of a unauthorized station and illegal activities in a Greek sea region.
A similar Navtex (navigational telex) was issued by Cyprus.
