Greece Considers Exclusive Zone In Offshore Gas Fields

The discovery of oil and natural gas at the basin of the eastern Mediterranean Sea has taken the genie out of the bottle. Now Greece wants to strike against Turkish interests by claiming full sovereignty over this newly found wealth near Turkey’s shores. There is, however, a popular Turkish saying for such circumstances: Don't say "Amen" for something that won't happen.

Here is the issue: The Greek weekly To Vima reported over the weekend that Greece is preparing to make a unilateral declaration to the United Nations seeking to determine its demarcation line based on what Greece thinks are the limits of its exclusive economic zone in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean. Accordingly, Greece would double its sovereign rights in the disputed territorial waters with Turkey, and would allow almost no room for Turkey to exploit its coastline. The report also suggested that Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is paying a great deal of importance to the issue, and believes that Turkey won't have the energy to indulge in a new crisis with Greece while it is already overwhelmed dealing with its own Kurdish issue and the Syrian crisis.