It is “inconceivable” that the Great Sea Interconnector project, which, if completed, will link the energy grids of Cyprus, Greece and Israel, could be “obstructed” by Turkey when seabed surveys begin in the coming weeks, Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said on Monday.

“According to international law … electricity interconnections of this type are unrestricted – they cannot be obstructed by any country. Greece, in full cooperation with France, will advance this project in the coming period,” he told Greek radio station Cosmos FM.

He added that Greece will issue a navtex, a message used to transmit information to seaborne vessels, regarding those seabed surveys in the waters between Crete and Cyprus, and that at the same time, “the European Union is monitoring the progress of the project”.

“Whatever is required by the Greek, French and European sides will be done. It is inconceivable, and I want to be clear about this, that a European project should be obstructed, especially by a country which aspires to become a member of the European Union,” he said.

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He added that it is “absolutely self-evident that the rules of European law should be applied and that any derogations from these rules are inconceivable”.

His reference to France comes after a majority stake in the interconnector project having been bought by French asset management firm Meridiam last month, and he was also keen to point out that the project was declared to be of “European common interest”, with the European Commission issuing a €657-million grant for it.

“So, it is not only Greece and France who are co-owners of this project. It is also the European Union itself, which partly finances the project and has a legitimate interest in its implementation,” he said.

The EU’s interest, he said, has come about because “it removes the energy isolation of a member state of the European Union, Cyprus”.

“By definition, it also strengthens the resilience of the European energy market, but of course, the interconnectivity of the energy market,” he said.

Greece, Turkey dispute ownership of waters in Mediterranean

Regarding the seabed surveys and the related navtex, Greece’s independent transmission system operator Admie, which owned the interconnector project until it was bought out by Meridiam, was quoted as having said that around 60 per cent of the seabed surveys have been completed thus far.

The remaining 40 per cent of the impacted seabed, it said, is located in disputed waters which are claimed by both Greece and Turkey.

These conflicting claims have impeded attempts to carry out seabed surveys between Cyprus and Crete before, with Turkish naval vessels being deployed in 2024 after an Italian research vessel strayed into what Turkey believes to be its own waters.

The naval vessels escorted the research ship away from Turkey, but not before Greece, too, dispatched a number of its own naval vessels to the area.

Gerapetritis had earlier indicated that should a similar dispute arise again, Greece would once again be prepared to send warships into the disputed waters should Turkey do the same.

The dispute about the ownership of the waters stems from the question of whether islands generate their own exclusive economic zone (EEZ) or not.

Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, citing the United Nations convention on the law of the sea (Unclos), state that they do, while Turkey, which is not a signatory to Unclos, states they do not.

As such, according to Turkey’s position, beyond the 12 nautical miles of territorial waters to which Turkey believes both islands are entitled, the sea between Cyprus and Crete is Turkish.

By contrast, the position held by Greece and by the Republic of Cyprus is that, given that islands generate a full EEZ, the EEZs of Greece and Cyprus border one another south of Kastellorizo, Greece’s easternmost inhabited island.