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A thriller about strong nerves is imposed in the last hours in the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean after Turkey’s decision to recruit Oruc Reis, sending him to the Greek continental shelf and ignoring clear messages from the international community to de-escalate the tension.
The wealth of Turkish research has alarmed Athens and caused intense discontent in Europe and the United States. What remains to be seen in the next few hours is to see if there will be a dispute over Greek sovereignty issues and the Oruc Reis will enter an area located at 12 o’clock at night. of Kastellorizo.
According to Turkish media, in the context of a propaganda “war”, the investigation appears to be sailing 22-25 nautical miles from Kastellorizo, on Tuesday night, within the limits of the Greek continental shelf, accompanied by ships of war.
In fact, the same media reported that it has begun the process of laying cables to proceed with the investigations – something that shows the movement of sailing at low speed – with Athens denying the information.
In any case, the laying of cables does not imply the initiation of investigations. However, as diplomatic sources have pointed out, it is being investigated whether the low speed of the ship is also associated with the laying of cables. At the same time, it is investigating whether the climatic conditions in the area allow the Turks to start the investigation.
However, from the first moment that Oruc Reis’s fate in the area was known, he gave an alarm signal to the Greek ships and submarines to discreetly monitor him, while at the same time the Air Forces are on alert. 
August landscape
This scene is reminiscent of what happened on the Greek continental shelf between August and September, when the Turkish side reported that the Turkish investigator had not only laid cables on the Greek continental shelf but was also conducting periodic investigations, contrary to what Athens said.
At that time, the Greek authorities estimated that Oruc Reis was unable to carry out investigations due to noise from warships sailing in the area.
The 12 mile red lines
Now, things have become much more serious than the crisis of last August, as it is not only a question of sovereignty on the part of Turkey, but this question also enters into questions of its sovereignty. In the first place, with its latest move, Turkey is essentially contesting in Greece the extension of its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles. in the Aegean.
Talking to in.gr The executive director of the Institute for International Relations, Konstantinos Filis, explains that there is an attempt by Turkey to create a consummate situation, according to which Greece will not be able to exercise its legal rights, in this case extending territorial waters to 12 nm. . -something that is a unilateral right- and of course annihilate the Greek continental shelf and the EEZ. 
Faced with these facts, the response of Athens must be clear, with the military solution among the options. “We should stop the Oruc Reis, obviously exhausting diplomatic margins, but at the same time erecting an operational wall against the Turkish investigation. Greece must not operationally allow entry to an area located 10.5 kilometers from Kastellorizo.” If we allow this and we started to pursue it with warships, we will have failed. “
“This is an evident action (it is the military option) against a country that wants to create situations that have been fulfilled,” he says, expressing concern about the possibility of conflict.
It should be noted that the leader of the official opposition, Alexis Tsipras, asked the government to extend territorial waters to 12 nautical miles in the Eastern Mediterranean and Crete, characterizing this movement as a one-way street.
“I am afraid that the German Presidency and the EU as a whole will not take responsibility if they are not pressured. And if there is no sanctions mechanism even now and if at the same time the issue of extension to the 12 m. “In the eastern Mediterranean, Greece and the EU will now lose all credibility,” Tsipras said.
Message from Mitsotakis to Maas
For his part, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent a stern message to Turkey amid mounting challenges during his meeting with German Foreign Minister Haiko Maas.
“We had agreed with Turkey exploratory contacts. But instead of a date, we have the Oruc Reis within the Greek continental shelf. We do not argue under these circumstances. We offered Turkey a clear option at the last summit: either a renewed partnership or consequences. if the provocation continues. “Turkey has chosen the second way,” said Mr. Mitsotakis.
He referred to paragraph 21 of the text of the conclusions of the recent Summit, which states that the EU will use all means at its disposal to the detriment of Ankara.
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