Turkey tells Israel, Greece, EU to seek permission for work in East Med waters

Turkey has sent a diplomatic note to Greece and Israel claiming that it must seek “its permission before assuming work on a proposed undersea power cable in Eastern Mediterranean waters,” according to reports which emerged in Turkey on Monday night.

In April 2020 and December 2020, Turkey claimed it wanted to reconcile with Israel, seeking to entice the Jewish State away from an emerging partnership with Greece.

“In a diplomatic note sent to the two countries’ embassies and the EU delegation on Monday, Ankara said the three must seek its permission before conducting any work on Turkey’s continental shelf, according to diplomatic sources,” Turkish media said.

Turkey is angry that Cyprus, Israel and Greece “last week signed an initial agreement on laying the world’s longest undersea power cable linking their electricity grids.”

Ankara’s latest claim is that the 1,200-kilometre (745-mile) EuroAsia Interconnector’s projected plans show it passing through Turkey’s continental shelf.

Any preliminary work or related initial cable-laying activities thus require Turkey’s approval, Ankara said in its note.

Turkey, once a close security partner for Israel, took drastic strides in the opposite direction over the past decade under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has emerged as a leading critic of Israel and supporter of the Hamas regime in Gaza.

Israel and Turkey were once close allies but had a major falling-out in 2010 when ten Turkish citizens were killed by Israeli forces as a Turkish-led flotilla tried to break Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip.

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