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Türkiye said late Friday that a French-flagged vessel plans to conduct unauthorized marine scientific research on its continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean for a planned subsea cable, adding that it had canceled navigational warnings issued by Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration (GCA) about the activity.
The vessel intends to conduct "unlawful marine scientific research" related to unauthorized cable-laying within Türkiye’s continental shelf, whose outer limits Türkiye notified the United Nations of on March 18, 2020, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement.
"The process regarding the consent that must be obtained from our country, in accordance with the established provisions of international maritime law, for the part of the activity the vessel plans to carry out that falls within the limits of our continental shelf has not yet been completed," the ministry said.
"Our determination to protect our sovereign rights arising from international law is complete, and we will continue to adopt an approach based on cooperation, dialogue and coordination in the region," the ministry said.
The ministry did not name the vessel.
However, the vessel is believed to be the French-flagged offshore support vessel Abeille Marengo, which arrived in Heraklion, Crete, on Tuesday to carry out underwater surveys for the high-voltage direct current cable of the Crete-Cyprus electricity link known as the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI).
Greece's Foreign Ministry said licensing procedures for survey and cable-laying work on the Greece-Cyprus interconnection were completed following a request by French company Nexans on behalf of the project owner GSI.
Following a positive opinion by the inter-ministerial committee for marine research permits, the Greek foreign minister issued the licensing decision on Nov. 6, 2026, the ministry said. The vessel then requested a navigational telex (NAVTEX), which was issued immediately, according to Greek media outlet Protothema.
The NAVTEX runs until March 6, 2027.
Türkiye has previously objected to activities it says infringe on its continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean, as it maintains its position on the Abeille Marengo survey.
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