Greece condemns ‘major escalation’ as Turkish survey ship sets sail

The Turkish ship at the centre of a row with the European Union over offshore exploration rights set sail on Monday to conduct new seismic surveys in the Mediterranean, a move that Athens called a “major escalation” threatening regional peace.

“The new Turkish NAVTEX on surveys south of Kastellorizo within the Greek continental shelf, at a distance of just 6.5 nautical miles from Greek shores, is a major escalation,” Greece’s foreign ministry said.

The move, after Ankara committed to proposing a date for exploratory talks, showed Turkey is “unreliable” and “does not really truly want a dialogue,” it said.