ISTANBUL/ATHENS (Reuters) – Turkey’s seismic research vessel Oruc Reis returned to waters near the southern province of Antalya on Sunday, Refinitiv data showed, a move Greece said was a positive first step in easing tensions over offshore natural resources.
But Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar played down the significance of the move, saying the ship had returned to shore as part of scheduled plans.
NATO members Turkey and Greece have overlapping claims to continental shelves and rights to potential energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean. Tensions flared last month after Ankara sent Oruc Reis to map out possible oil and gas drilling prospects in waters claimed by Greece, Cyprus and Turkey.
Turkey’s navy had issued an advisory earlier this month saying that the Oruc Reis would continue operations in the area until Sept. 12.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had said the ship would continue exploratory operations for longer but no extension to the advisory has been issued so far.
Refinitiv ship tracking data showed Oruc Reis, along with two accompanying vessels, had anchored at a location just off the coast of Antalya on Sunday.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed the move.
“The return of Oruc Reis is a positive first step, I hope there will be continuity. We want to talk with Turkey but in a climate without provocations,” he told reporters in Thessaloniki.
Ankara faces potential sanctions from the European Union, which fully supports member states Greece and Cyprus, due to the dispute but many states, including Germany, want to defuse the stand-off through dialogue.
“A sanctions list exists as an option (against Turkey). Our desire is not to see it implemented but it will be done if we see that the other side is not returning to the path of logic,” Mitsotakis said.
