Turkey’s defense ministry said Thursday that its recent navigational warnings, or Navtex, in the Aegean Sea were issued without an end date, pushing back on Greek press reports that described the notices as a two-year move to press Turkey’s maritime claims.
Rear Adm. Zeki Aktürk, the ministry spokesperson, told a weekly briefing in Ankara that the notices are valid for an “indefinite” period of time and reflect Turkey’s legal position.
The statement matters because Navtex is not just a routine maritime safety broadcast. In the Aegean, it is also a way to put competing claims into official shipping traffic, a tool both NATO allies use when they stage drills, publish research plans or challenge each other’s jurisdiction.
Greek outlets said two Turkish notices, including one issued from the İzmir station and another from Antalya, restated Turkey’s positions over what it calls its continental shelf in the Aegean and demanded that research activity be coordinated with Turkish authorities.
Turkey’s defense ministry said its navigational warnings are “technical objections” to what it calls Greece’s unlawful activity in the Aegean and said they are not limited to a set term.
In the same briefing the ministry said the notices underline Turkey’s demand that research in maritime zones it claims must be coordinated with Ankara and said military activity that could endanger navigation around islands Turkey describes as having a non-militarized status violates international agreements.
The flare-up comes as Greece and Turkey prepare for new high-level talks expected in mid-February, with Greek and Turkish leaders set to meet in Turkey.
It also comes after Greece’s foreign minister said Athens plans to extend territorial waters further and that the Aegean Sea could be included, despite Turkey’s long-standing warning that such a move would be treated as a casus belli.
Turkey and Greece, longtime rivals and also NATO allies, have feuded for decades over maritime boundaries, airspace and the status of islands close to Turkey’s coast, disputes that have triggered repeated crises in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean.
On the demilitarization dispute, Turkey points to treaty text including Article 13 of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which set restrictions for Lesbos, Chios, Samos and Ikaria.