Papastavrou: Turkey says it gave consent that was never asked for
Turkey issued a NAVTEX and says it gave its consent, even though it was never asked to, Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou said, responding to parliamentary representatives of opposition parties who had asked to be briefed on the Turkish NAVTEX.
“Don’t fall into the trap. Turkey issued a NAVTEX and gave its consent, even though the company never asked it to. Look at the text. It nowhere says that the company asked it for permission. Do you know why? Because it wasn’t asked. Because the French company applied for authorisation to carry out work only in Greece and Cyprus. And the vessel set out a few hours ago — and I think there was national unity — to carry out bathymetric surveys for the laying, based solely on the Greek NAVTEX. Because that is where the coordinates are made public,” Mr Papastavrou said, adding: “The vessel’s route became public on the basis of the Greek NAVTEX. And Turkey comes along, despite no such request having been made, and gives its consent without any approach from the French company. Let’s be clear. The French company made no request. The vessel set out on the basis of a NAVTEX issued by Greece alone. No other NAVTEX has been issued in response to a request from the French company. Let’s be clear.”
SOURCE: ANA