Greece is closely monitoring the course of “Piri Reis“, remaining on alert and in any case will safeguard its sovereign rights, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Lana Zohiou said at a regular briefing for reporters.

As she pointed out, Greece issued an anti-Navtex, as planned, and so far there has been no movement of the ocean liner.

The Foreign Minister’s meeting with the son of Marshal Haftar earlier in September was held in a constructive atmosphere, cooperation in the economic sector, trade, energy, transport was agreed upon. As Zohiou said, the business mission will take place in the autumn, while the training of coast guard officers will continue, in order to help prevent migration flows.

Mr. Gerapetritis also reiterated Athens’ position on the unsubstantiated and illegal Turkish-Colombian memorandum. And he highlighted again the role that Greece can play in the EU and the UN Security Council.

It should be noted that Greece sent to the UN a verbal note in response to the Libyan verbal note, the main point being that Libya’s claim of the illegal and unsubstantiated Turkey-Libya memorandum is rejected, as Turkey and Libya have no maritime borders, while the existence of the Greek islands is ignored.

In the autumn, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said, the business mission to Libya will take place, while the training of Coast Guard officers will continue, in order to help prevent migration flows.

Ms. Zochiou referred to the geopolitical dimension of Chevron‘s participation in the tender because Greece is becoming an important link in the broader EU-US energy cooperation.

It is also particularly important that reference is made to the fact that the plots are located in areas of Greek exclusive jurisdiction with regard to the issuance of relevant permits.

Ms Zohiou referred to the program of the visit of Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis to New York to participate in the UN General Assembly. Greece is participating this year in the General Assembly as an elected member of the UN Security Council.

Mr. Gerapetritis will participate in the Security Council meeting on the Middle East, will chair the ministerial meeting to be held on the Forum of Ancient Civilizations.

He will also hold discussions with a number of counterparts, including those of Egypt, Algeria, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. He will also have contacts with Greek expatriates and organizations, and will attend the Foreign Ministers’ Dinner hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the General Assembly.

Three more trilateral meetings will be held, Greece-Cyprus-Egypt, Greece-Cyprus-Jordan, Greece-Cyprus-Syria.

Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandra Papadopoulou is in the United States as of today and will hold a series of meetings with members of Congress and members of the US government in preparation for the Strategic Dialogue to be held in Athens.

Papadopoulou will participate in an event organized by Greece on the sidelines of the General Assembly on maritime security, where the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization will be present.

New NAVTEX from Turkey after the readiness of the Hellenic Armed Forces

New NAVTEX from the Smyrna station was issued today by the Turkish side with revisionist references to the Lorraine Treaty, reiterating its baseless claims of a “demilitarization” regime.

It should be noted that the Turkish NAVTEX was issued against the backdrop of a readiness exercise being conducted by the Hellenic Armed Forces starting at dawn today, with the activation of an inter-agency rapid reaction force, which will last throughout today.

The aim is to test the readiness of the Hellenic Armed Forces, although military sources do not deny that this is a “show of deterrence and a show of force”, given that all three branches of the Armed Forces, as well as special forces, will be involved throughout the country.

It should be noted that the Greek side, as reported by protothema.gr, responded instantly to the Turkish NAVTEX to conduct research by the oceanographic vessel “Piri Reis”, issuing a counter-NAVTEX, while the Governmental National Security Council will meet in a few minutes.

However, Pentagon sources commented that today’s readiness exercise is not linked to the mobility of the “Piri Reis” research vessel, as well as that the surprise drills are part of operational planning to check the readiness of the Armed Forces at all times.

The same sources recalled that such exercises have happened in the past and will continue to take place in the future.