Two Turkish replies within hours

Greece's Heraklion hydrographic station issued a NAVTEX late on Thursday, 15 October, for the multinational Eunomia exercise, set for 19 October in waters south of Kastellorizo. Turkey answered on Friday, 16 October, with a counter-notice from its Antalya station, which argues the zone falls under Turkish responsibility rather than Greek. Athens maintains that Heraklion is the sole competent station for safety notices in this part of the Athens FIR and the Greek continental shelf, under the International Maritime Organization framework. Ankara then re-issued its own notice for the same exercise area, repeating its claim with the coordinates Greece had already announced. Skai reports that the exercise, run with France, Italy and Cyprus since 2020, ends on 22 October, while the Greek notice names 19 October as the date.

Greek and Turkish maritime notices, 15 to 16 October 2026
  1. Greek Heraklion station issues NAVTEX for the Eunomia exercise on 19 October
  2. Turkey's Antalya station issues a counter-NAVTEX claiming the zone
  3. Turkey issues a second counter-NAVTEX against a Cypriot NAVTEX for an EMC cable survey

The Cyprus survey notice

Cyprus issued its own NAVTEX for geophysical surveys by the vessel S/V Kobi Ruegg from 21 October to 2 November, inside its exclusive economic zone. The work concerns the East to Med Corridor (EMC) data cable, which is meant to run from Saudi Arabia to Cyprus and onward to Greece. Turkish counter-notice No. 1020/26, issued from Antalya on 16 October, says the area lies on Turkey's continental shelf, whose outer limits were notified to the United Nations on 18 March 2020, and it calls the Larnaca station unauthorised. The notice also states that using the name Cyprus does not amount to recognising the Greek Cypriot administration, and it is set to lapse at 00:01Z on 3 November. Kathimerini reports that the German firm FUGRO Germany received a Cypriot licence for the EMC project only a few days earlier. The same paper recalls that on 6 August 2025 the Turkish navy frigate Gediz harassed the survey vessel Fugro Gauss while it worked on the cable in the Cypriot EEZ.

Cable route and the French survey ship

The Greek government said that Nexans, the French contractor on the Greece-Cyprus interconnector project, has submitted its seabed survey applications only to Greek authorities, and that no agreement has been reached with any other country. The French-flagged vessel Abeille Marengo plans to survey the seabed between Crete and Cyprus. According to Deutsche Welle, Greek authorities are expected to complete licensing and issue the NAVTEX within about 15 days, with works running from late October through 31 December 2026. Greek Coast Guard headquarters says a request has been filed for exceptional use of the ship inside Greek territorial waters. Ankara demands prior written coordination and consent for seabed work over the section it says crosses its continental shelf, and it expects France, as flag state, to coordinate through diplomatic channels beforehand. Athens does not consider those objections justified. Hurriyet, cited by Deutsche Welle, says the outcome depends on whether Paris notifies Ankara in advance.

Libya and the wider dispute

Hurriyet, as cited by Deutsche Welle, also reports rising friction between Athens and Tripoli over oil and gas exploration around Crete. As of 16 October, the Libyan government had sent Athens a diplomatic note on the matter. Whether France takes the step Ankara expects remains unresolved in the reporting, and the Turkish position on the cable will depend on that response.