Seismic Survey

IN NEWS

• Turkey's navy has issued an advisory on 11 th October saying that the Turkish ship Oruc Reis will carry out a seismic survey in the eastern Mediterranean over the next ten days, a step likely to revive tensions with NATO ally Greece.

About

• Two other vessels, the Ataman and Cengiz Han along with Oruc Reis exploration ship will continue works in an area including the south of Greek island of Kastellorizo until October 22.
• The two countries are at odds over overlapping claims for hydrocarbon resources in the region.
• The foreign ministers of Turkey and Greece met last week and agreed to hold bilateral talks on the disputes.
• Last month, Ankara withdrew Oruc Reis from contested waters to “allow for diplomacy” ahead of a European Union summit.
• After the summit the bloc said it would punish Turkey if it continued its operations in the region, in a move Ankara said further strained Turkey-EU ties.
• A similar advisory, or Navtex, last month caused a row which was calmed after the intervention of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
• However, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday Turkey had resumed energy exploration work in the region as Greece had not kept its promises on the issue.

What are Seismic surveys ?

• Seismic surveys are part of preparatory work for potential hydrocarbon exploration. Turkey and Greece are also at odds over issues such as overflights in the Aegean Sea and ethnically divided Cyprus.