Athens reacted immediately to the issuance of the Turkish NAVTEX.
According to diplomatic sources, "Greece and Cyprus are the only countries to which a request for permission to carry out the work was submitted, and they issued the relevant permits.
Once the Greek NAVTEX had been issued and published, the vessel’s precise route became known to all.
The vessel’s movements were, and continue to be, in accordance with the NAVTEX issued by the Greek authorities".
Diplomatic sources note that "the Turkish NAVTEX, issued after the vessel began its passage on the basis of information already made public, is of no significance.
Moreover, the Turkish NAVTEX makes no mention of “the issuance of a permit”, because no such request was made to the Turkish side.
Greece will respond as appropriate under international law".
Turkish NAVTEX gives “consent” for Abeille Marengo survey work
Turkey has issued a NAVTEX claiming that Ankara has “given its consent” for the Abeille Marengo’s survey work.
The move comes hours after the French vessel sailed from the port of Heraklion.
In notice 1127/26, Ankara says that the work is being carried out along lines “coordinated with the competent Turkish authorities” and that “the consent of the Turkish authorities has been obtained” for it, claiming that those authorities are “competent”.
The notice describes the work as “marine scientific research” for the installation of an undersea cable. It says the work is being carried out within Turkey’s NAVTEX area of responsibility and “on the Turkish continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean”. For the outer limits of this continental shelf, it refers to letter A/74/757, which Turkey submitted to the UN on 18 March 2020.
The work is scheduled to run from 10 November 2026 to 19 March 2027, along two almost parallel lines. The lines start southeast of Karpathos and Kasos, at approximately 35°20' N – 27°15' E. They head southeast and end southwest of Cyprus, at approximately 34°11' N – 32°16' E. The notice asks passing vessels to keep a distance of 2 nautical miles and is cancelled at 00:01 UTC on 20 March 2027.
The wording differs from the counter-NAVTEX 1105/26 issued by Turkey on 6 November. In that notice, Ankara said it had not given its consent for the survey work and described the Greek NAVTEX 1411/26 issued by Heraklion station as “unauthorised”. The new notice does not explain how, or by whom, the “consent” it refers to was given.