| schema:articleBody
| - Tensions between Greece and Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean reignited Monday after Ankara said it was again sending a research ship into a hotly disputed area. Athens called the move a "direct threat to peace" after the two NATO members spent the summer sabre rattling and conducting rival naval exercises. This is a timeline of how the discovery of offshore gas reserves has dangerously upped the ante between the regional rivals. Turkey signs a controversial security agreement in November 2019 with Libya's UN-recognised government, expanding Ankara's claims over a large gas-rich area of the Mediterranean. The area has long been a source of acrimony between Greece and Turkey, with Ankara's appetite whetted by discoveries of large gas reserves. In January 2020 Egypt, Cyprus, Greece and France condemn the deal as a violation of sovereignty. They also condemn Ankara's drilling in waters off Cyprus in defiance of warnings from the EU and US. Turkish troops have occupied the northern third of the divided island since 1974, whose southern Greek-speaking part is an EU member. On June 10, 2020 Ankara protests an inspection by the EU's naval mission of a cargo ship suspected of breaching the UN's arms embargo on Libya. Under the 2019 security accord with Libya, Ankara boosted its military support for the government, which is fighting strongman Khalifa Haftar's forces for control of the oil-rich north African country. On June 11 Turkish warships and fighter jets carry out large-scale manoeuvres in the eastern Mediterranean, which state media describe as a "show of force". Ankara also announces plans for energy exploration near the Greek island of Kastellorizo, which rests just two kilometres (1.2 miles) off the Turkish coast. The mood sours further when Greece and Egypt sign an agreement on August 6 to set up an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkey is incensed by the deal, branding it "null and void". President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announces that Turkey is resuming its suspended search for energy in disputed waters. Turkey's Oruc Reis research vessel and five warships enter waters claimed by Greece near Kastellorizo. France sends in its own military assets in support of the Greek warships monitoring Turkey's work. On August 12, a Turkish frigate collides with a Greek one in hotly disputed circumstances. Erdogan vows not to yield to what he calls "pirates". On August 25, German Foreign Minister Heiko Mass shuttles between Athens and Ankara in a bid to put talks between the two rivals back on track. Greece begins three days of war games with France, Italy and Cyprus, while Turkey conducts drills with the US navy nearby. On August 27, Turkey ratchets up its gas exploration mission and schedules navy shooting drills at the edge of its territorial waters to the northeast of Cyprus. In September, the Oruc Reis is pulled back to shore with Erdogan saying he is giving diplomacy a chance. However, with its ruling party declaring that Turkey will not be bullied, Ankara says it is sending the ship back to waters off Kastellorizo until October 22. acm/jmy/zak/fg/mbx
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)