28.12.2017 : 21:24
VASSILIS NEDOS
The passage of a Turkish drillship through the Aegean on Thursday was seen as a loud message to Athens that Ankara plans to play a part in energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean and the wider region.
Although the Deep Sea Metro 2 and the Turkish corvette Bafra escorting it were traveling in international waters, their journey from an area southeast of the Peloponnese through the Aegean heading for Istanbul was viewed in Greece as a display of Ankara’s determination not to be left out of the region’s unfolding energy map, at a time when Athens has already begun initiatives to partially extend its sea zones.
Thursday’s route taken by the Deep Sea Metro 2 – charted by Turkey for exploratory offshore drilling in the Mediterranean Sea in 2018 – and the Bafra was known to Greece in advance, and for this reason both the Hellenic Armed Forces General Staff (GEETHA) and the navy were put on alert.
