Turkey intensifies maritime pressure on Greece with NAVTEX alerts and research vessel

In a marked escalation of the long-standing Aegean dispute, Turkey has combined rhetoric with operational steps, such as issuing a NAVTEX alert and stationing the research vessel TÜBİTAK Marmara in waters southwest of Kastellorizo, an area Turkey now claims within its maritime blocks. Ankara also sent a diplomatic note objecting to Greece’s Special Spatial Planning Frameworks and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan publicly demanded that Greece abandon what Turkey calls the militarisation of its Aegean islands, a statement made two days after Greece signed the “Achilles Shield” air-and-missile defence programme.

Athens has lodged formal protests, taken the issue to EU foreign ministers in Ireland, and reiterated that unilateral Turkish actions have no legal effect. The next critical tests will be Turkey’s expected October legislation embedding the “Blue Homeland” doctrine and the resumption of the Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection cable, which Turkey has repeatedly contested. Greek officials will monitor whether Turkey’s heightened language translates into further sea-based actions or remains a domestic political campaign. The outcome will shape the balance of sovereignty claims and regional security in the Eastern Mediterranean.