The reaction of Athens to the Turkish Navtex was immediate.
According to diplomatic sources regarding the Turkish Navtex and information that has recently seen the light of day, it is reported that:
1) A relevant Verbal Communication has already been served by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Turkish side.
2) Letters of protest of the Hydrographic Service have been sent to the relevant IMO agency and to the Spanish Mediterranean and Black Sea Navtex coordinator.
In all the texts, Turkish claims are rejected and the legal correctness of Greek positions is presented.
TURKEY ISSUED NAVTEX IN REACTION TO GREEK EXERCISE
Turkey proceeded to a second Navtex, today February 20, as a reaction to a Greek aeronautical exercise taking place, southeast of Karpathos.
With this move, Turkey is trying to overlap the corresponding Greek ones for sovereignty in the Eastern Aegean, but it also made a third one with which it brings back the issue of the demilitarization of the islands. According to a report in the newspaper “Ta Nea”, Ankara claims that the area is under Turkish jurisdiction and in this context, it relayed the coordinates as a sign of superiority, something that did not happen with the Greek Navtex which has to do with a firing exercise by the British Navy and was issued on the same day further east.
At the same time, Turkey reacted to a Greek NOTAM that reserves an area between Lemnos, Ai Strati, Psara and Lesvos for aeronautical exercises, from February 20 to 22, by issuing an anti-NOTAM and again raising the issue of demilitarization of all the islands of the Eastern Aegean, from Thassos to and Kastelorizo. This is a repeat of the previous Navtex which had an expiry date of February 16, 2024.
According to the publication, all these are not random isolated incidents, as they are a continuation of the Turkish practice, which may have zero violations in the air, but continued and increased them at sea, recording 1,642 violations in 2023. The revised practice of of Turkey continued throughout 2023 and in the part of NOTAM and Navtex.
Greece, for its part, responds by issuing the necessary responses, in the form of anti-NOTAM and anti-Navtex, explaining that it has international legitimacy defined through international treaties and practices and emphasizing the illegality and irregularity of these Turkish movements.
As the ERT correspondent broadcasts with the number 0177/24 Navtex of the Turkish station of Antalya, Ankara claims that the area southeast of Karpathos where a Greek aeronautical exercise is taking place and was committed from February 20 to 24, is in an area of Turkish jurisdiction and in this context relayed the coordinates.
Accordingly, with a separate Navtex (0184/24) the same Turkish station in Antalya rebroadcasts a corresponding Greek NAVTEX for a real-fire exercise further east in the Mediterranean, again claiming that the area is under Turkish jurisdiction.
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