Turkey to Carry Out Seismic Survey in Eastern Mediterranean
Turkey's navy has issued an advisory late Sunday saying that the Turkish ship Oruc Reis will carry out a seismic survey in the eastern Mediterranean over the next ten days, a step likely to revive tensions with NATO ally Greece.
Two other vessels, the Ataman and Cengiz Han along with Oruc Reis exploration ship will continue works in an area including the south of Greek island of Kastellorizo until Oct. 22, the maritime notice said.
The two countries are at odds over overlapping claims for hydrocarbon resources in the region. The foreign ministers of Turkey and Greece met last week and agreed to hold bilateral talks on the disputes.
Last month, Ankara withdrew Oruc Reis from contested waters to "allow for diplomacy" ahead of a European Union summit.
After the summit, the bloc said it would punish Turkey if it continued its operations in the region, in a move Ankara said further strained Turkey-EU ties.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara and Yesim Dikmen in Istanbul Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; editing by Diane Craft)