It was with some astonishment that YACHT reader and Aegean sailor Andreas S. registered what his Navtex device on board spit out for a message from the Greek stations a few weeks ago:
"Message to all sailors: The Aegean has always been safe and secure. Turkey has repeatedly used the Navtex system to spread its revisionist, nationalist agenda. It refers to the status of the Aegean and safety for sailors. The Greek Coastguard rejects such accusations and emphasises that it protects the lives of sailors in its waters and the freedom of navigation, following the guidelines of international maritime conventions. The only officially authorised Navtex stations in the Ionian Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean are Kerkyera, Limnos and Iraklion."
What might initially seem like a bad joke for crews unfamiliar with Turkish-Greek relations has a serious background, however. Since this year, the long-simmering border dispute between the countries has intensified enormously. In the run-up to President Erdogan's constitutional referendum, he took a more strident tone. He repeatedly described the Treaty of Lausanne, which was signed in 1923 and regulates the border between the two countries, as "not sacred".
For years, there have been repeated disputes in the border area because Turkey has not acceded to the International Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was also intended to regulate the sovereign territories in the Aegean. There were repeated disputes because Turkey claimed individual islands for itself. In 1996, the whole thing escalated to such an extent that Turkish and Greek warships and air forces were operating in close proximity, resulting in a helicopter crash with three fatalities. Mediation by the USA was ultimately able to defuse the conflict. Since then, more and more calm has returned over the years, the countries have come closer together and all observers assumed that the conflict had outlived its usefulness.
But that doesn't seem to be the case; conflicts have been increasing since the beginning of this year. In spring, a Turkish warship carried out a live ammunition exercise in Greek waters, directly in front of a Greek military base. The Greek government protested vigorously against this and threatened to demonstrate its strength if it happened again. In early summer, the Greek Coastguard stopped a Turkish freighter which, according to press reports, was allegedly carrying explosives. The ship was detained in the harbour.
In the meantime, Turkish fighter jets repeatedly flew over Greek territory because Turkey considers the airspace up to about the centre of the Aegean Sea to be international - quite differently from the way the Greek side sees it, of course.
The climax of the clashes was another attempt by the Greek Coastguard in July to stop a Turkish freighter around three miles off Rhodes, escort it into a harbour and search it. The Coastguard allegedly had information that the ship was carrying drugs. The captain refused and headed straight for the Turkish mainland. The Greek Coastguard then fired warning shots. When the freighter crew did not react, the ship was fired upon. The increased controls by the Greeks are part of the new EU strategy against smugglers and arms smuggling at the EU's external border.
Since then, the dispute between the two countries has also been conducted via Navtex messages: Turkey sent messages via the Antalya stations stating that there were no special Navtex transmission areas in the Aegean that had been approved by the IMO and IHO, meaning that the Navtex messages from the Greek stations were "null and void". They therefore wanted to continue transmitting messages for the safety of shipping. All captains were offered the opportunity to call the Turkish Coastguard for help in the event of attempts by the Greek authorities to carry out checks.
Since this year, a conflict between two NATO member states has escalated in a way that no one would have thought possible. The Navtex skirmish between the two sides, which some crews are observing, appears in a completely different light against this backdrop.
