A Turkish ship The Rook Race set sail early Monday to work south of Castellorizo, a Greek island off the south coast of Turkey.
Greece’s foreign ministry called the development a “huge increase” and a “direct threat to peace in the region.”
Ankara withdrew the same ship from combat waters in the East Mediterranean before the EU summit called for Cyprus to push for sanctions against Turkey.
“Turkey has proved that it lacks credibility. All those who believed in Turkey have shown their meaning before the European Summit on October 1-2,” now Greek government spokesman Stallios Patsus said on Monday.
Turkey’s Energy Minister Fatih Donmez wrote on Twitter that Oruk Reese weighed the anchor after going through maintenance.
“We will continue to explore, excavate and protect our rights,” he wrote.
Relations between Greece and Turkey are complicated by a number of disputes, ranging from Mediterranean jurisprudence to ethnically divided Cyprus.
Cyprus tension
The situation in Cyprus escalated last week when the Turkish Cypriot North partially reopened a beach resort abandoned by Greek Cypriot residents during the 1974 war.
At a checkpoint near Varosha in eastern Cyprus on Sunday night, about 200 people hoisted a large Greek flag as they tried to make their way to the Turkish Cypriot island, according to signs of rising tensions.
In the video footage, they show pressure on police personnel leading to the UN-controlled buffer zone, setting fires and saying “Cyprus is Greek.”
At the summit in early October, the EU said it would punish Turkey if it continued to operate in the region and that sanctions could be imposed as early as December. Ankara said such a warning has strained relations.
Greek government spokesman Petsas said there was no need to wait two months before the EU took action.
“Turkey did exactly what was demanded by the European Council … so the only issue here is to activate tougher solutions, this time for Turkey to feel more sticky and less carrot,” Petsas said.
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