SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance MEPs: What measures will you take against the illegal actions, announced by Turkey regarding the exploration and drillings in parts of the Greek and Cypriot continental shelf as well as the Greek territorial sea?

Greece has published the coordinates of these blocks in the EU Official Journal on 13.11.2014 and they have been granted for exploitation by the Greek State to the companies below: Exxon-Mobil, Total and Elpe on 27.6.2019

Papadimoulis, Kostas Arvanitis, Alexis Georgoulis, Petros Kokkalis, Stelios Kouloglou and Elena Kountoura have submitted a question for written answer to the European Commission as well as to the President of the EU Council regarding the Turkish provocative announcement that “in the near future, through the state oil company TPAO, Turkey will begin hydrocarbon exploration and drillings in the south of Crete and within the territorial sea of Crete and the Greek continental shelf respectively”.

In the question, the Members of the European Parliament point out that “Greece has published the coordinates of these blocks in the EU Official Journal on 13.11.2014 and they have been granted for exploitation by the Greek State to the companies: Exxon-Mobil, Total and Elpe on 27.6.2019”.

Given that “Turkey has not signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and that its actions are the result of its military involvement in the region and the illegal –based also on the EU Council’s conclusions (December 2019)- memorandum with Libya on the delimitation of maritime zones, SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance MEPs address the issue both to the European Commission and the President of the EU Council, asking for a clear answer regarding the measures by the European institutions “against the illegal actions in parts of the Greek and Cypriot continental shelf as well as the Greek territorial sea, which violate the International Law of the Sea, the sovereignty of the EU Member-States and the principle of good neighborly relations”.

You can find the full text of the question below:

SUBJECT: Illegal hydrocarbon exploration and drillings by Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean

At a critical time for stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey continues to provoke, by announcing the beginning of hydrocarbon exploration and drillings, through the state oil company TPAO, in blocks 15 and 20, which are located in the south of Crete and within the continental shelf of Crete and the Greek territorial sea respectively.
Greece has published the coordinates of these bloks in the EU Official Journal on 13.11.2014, which have been granted for exploitation by the Greek State to the companies: Exxon-Mobil, Total and Elpe on 27.6.2019. The illegal actions of Turkey, which has not signed the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is a result of its military involvement in the region and the illegal based also on the EU Council’s conclusions (December 2019)- memorandum with Libya on the delimitation of maritime zones. At the same time, TPAO has already illegally requested an exploration and drilling permission in 7 locations within the Greek and Cypriot continental shelf, east of Crete and Rhodes and west of Cyprus.

We ask the European Commission / President of the European Council:

- Which measures do the European Commission and the EU Council intend to take against the abovementioned illegal actions within the Greek and Cypriot continental shelves and the Greek territorial sea, which violate the International Law of the Sea, the sovereignty of EU Member States and the principle of good neighborly relations?