The small island Kastellorizo ​​at the center of the growing confrontation between Greece and Turkey

Kastellorizo, in the crystal clear waters of the eastern Mediterranean, is an idyllic and bijou beauty.

Fishing boats bob in its peaceful harbor and colorful houses give way to hills dotted with olive trees.

The 12-square-meter little gem is the “remote treasure of the Aegean,” says a tourism website.

But trouble is brewing in the sun-soaked seas surrounding Kastellorizo ​​and two officially allied European nations are preparing for battle, news.com.au reported.

Ships from Greece and Turkey have already collided. One expert has said the pair are once again on the “brink of war,” but this time there seems to be little appetite to slam on the brakes.

It is a conflict that has now affected France, Libya, Egypt, Israel, the United States, and more nations as well.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demanded that Greece enter into talks, or else.

“They will understand the language of politics and diplomacy, or in the field with painful experiences,” he said.

The theme is as clear as day in Kastellorizo, also known as Megisti. The island, which is part of the Dodecanese chain, is the easternmost inhabited point of Greece. It is located more than 550 kilometers from the capital, Athens. But only 2 km off the coast of Turkey. On a clear day you can not only see Turkey, you could probably swim for lunch.

Both countries are members of the NATO military alliance, but both have long-standing animosities. One of the main complaints is how close dozens of Greek islands, such as Kastellorizo, are to Turkish soil.

It’s a seething tension that dates back a century or more. But the hornet’s nest has recently been disturbed by the discovery of large amounts of gas in the eastern Mediterranean.

The question is who is entitled to the reservations: Greece or Turkey?

BOAT IN THE CENTER OF FEUD

“Turkey and Greece have been at odds on the Aegean (a sea that is part of the broader Mediterranean) since the mid-1970s, but they have refrained from unilateral actions that could result in full-blown conflict. They have been able to defuse various escalations. “says UK Coventry University academic Cihan Dizdaroglu in The Conversation.

“However, adding the eastern Mediterranean to the mix complicates things. The two sides seem to have opened Pandora’s box.”

The zero point of the international dispute is a ship: the Oruc Reis. Painted with a giant Turkish flag, this research ship has been busy surveying the seafloor off the Turkish coast for potential gas deposits.

Last month, the Greek army was stirred while sailing in waters near Kastellorizo.

Greece sent naval ships to follow the Oruc Reis, which was being escorted by Turkish military ships.

On August 10, a Greek frigate collided with one of the Turkish military escorts between the Greek island of Crete and Cyprus. It was a huge escalation that led to France sending one of its own frigates and two fighter jets to the area to support Greece.

The Greek news publication Protothema showed a large indentation in the side of the Turkish ship.

The heart of the problem is how the waters of the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean are divided.

The collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the forerunner of modern Turkey, in the early 20th century led to some of its former lands being officially divided between the countries that once ruled.

The 1924 Treaty of Lausanne formalized Greece’s control of almost all the major islands off the coast of Turkey to the east of Kastellorizo.

Maritime borders, however, are more complicated. In general, it is accepted that nations have exclusive economic zones (EEZs) that extend a distance from their coasts.

TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS

Ankara claims that the Greek islands enclose Turkey and effectively exclude it from large areas of the sea that are legitimately exploited. The position of Kastellorizo, in southern Turkey, potentially gives Greece control of a large stretch of the eastern Mediterranean.

“Greece claims 40,000 square kilometers of maritime jurisdiction area because of this small island,” Cagatay Erciyes, an official with the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said of Kastellorizo.

Not so, says Athens. Since the islands are Greek territory, they have EEZs that go into the sea and that must be respected.

It is not a new argument and generally just quietly dissipates. Until riches were found under the seabed.

“Large oil and gas reserves were discovered in the region a decade ago. Estimates are worth trillions of dollars to neighboring countries, even at current prices,” said Clemens Hoffman, a professor of politics at Britain’s Stirling University.

BRINK OF WAR

Last year, Greece and several Mediterranean governments, including Cyprus, Israel, Egypt and Palestine, signed an agreement to cooperate in the exploitation of gas reserves. A gas pipeline is planned to transport the gas to Europe bypassing Turkey.

Turkey reacted to this snub by signing an agreement with the UN-backed Libyan government (there are several governments in Libya) to create an EEZ that runs along the Mediterranean. If accepted, this would block the gas pipeline and see Turkey potentially drilling off the coast of several Greek islands.

So Greece declared an EEZ between its islands and Egypt directly across the line that Turkey and Libya had just drawn.

It has left research ships and warships floating around the Mediterranean in waters claimed from each other. Greece has already conducted naval exercises with some EU countries and the United Arab Emirates.

“Greece and Turkey have endured many incidents that brought them to the brink of war, particularly in the Aegean Sea, but these were alleviated through dialogue and mediation,” Professor Dizdaroğlu said in The Conversation.

“There is no established dialogue mechanism for a conflict in the eastern Mediterranean and that really matters in this conflict-ridden region.”

The tumult is about hydrocarbons, to be sure, but there is also a great streak of nationalism, stoked by Turkey’s President Erdogan.

“We are defending our blue homeland,” said Cem Gürdeniz, a former Turkish admiral.

“It is a defensive doctrine after Greece and Cyprus stole our continental shelf and represents the greatest geostrategic challenge of the century.”

For some in Turkey, the Treaty of Lausanne was a capitulation that saw a new nation by surprise and hastily and unnecessarily signed by the islands.

FRANCE AND WE ENTER THE FRAY

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron met Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and declared that he was siding with his European Union partner on a NATO ally.

Turkey “was no longer a partner” in the eastern Mediterranean, President Macron said.

“We Europeans must be clear and firm, not with Turkey as a nation or as a people, but with the government of President Erdogan.”

Turkey was enraged at the comments, calling Macron “arrogant” and his comments as “colonial reflexes.”

Erdogan’s top press aide, Fahrettin Altun, slapped Macron in a tweet, describing him as a “Napoleon wannabe” in a Mediterranean campaign.

The Greek prime minister has urged the EU to impose “significant sanctions” on Ankara if there are no changes to the stalemate before the end of the month.

“If Europe wants to wield true geopolitical power, it simply cannot afford to appease a belligerent Turkey,” said Mr. Mitsotakis.

The United States has now entered the fray, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he will intervene to seek a “diplomatic and peaceful” resolution.

The waters of Kastellorizo ​​remain calm and clear. But one more collision, one unwanted incursion, or a stray bullet, and this tiny island could find itself at the center of a European battle.