Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense has expressed a strong stance against Greece’s recent awards for the exploration of energy resources in southern Crete. The core of the controversy lies in the pact signed between Athens and the consortium formed by Chevron and Hellenic Energy, an alliance that Ankara describes as a transgression of international regulations and neighborhood agreements.
The questioning of Greece’s hydrocarbon activities
Through an official statement, the Turkish authorities pointed out that, although these maneuvers do not directly encroach on their continental shelf, they deliberately ignore the Memorandum of Understanding on Areas of Maritime Jurisdiction signed between Turkey and Libya.
This agreement is veiled by the coordinates notified to the United Nations in May 2025, which defines a legal framework that Ankara is ready to defend. Likewise, the Turkish government has reaffirmed its commitment to support Libya in any legal or diplomatic initiative against these unauthorized extractive activities.
Under a comprehensive defense perspective, this scenario is not the only one keeping the Turkish administration busy. On the other hand, the Ministry is closely following developments in Syria, advocating state-building that unifies the army and institutions under a single command.
The vision of regional stability extends to the Horn of Africa, where Turkish armed forces ensure the protection of critical infrastructure in Somalia, including drilling facilities and aerospace test sites.
The firmness in the face of the search for offshore fields by international companies in disputed areas underlines the complexity of today’s energy security. The next steps of the Libyan authorities, supported by Ankara, will determine the course of a dispute that appears to be far from an amicable resolution off the Peloponnese and Crete coasts.
Source: Türkiye Today