Simerini: France's 'dirty work' over Abeille Marengo survey ship in Greece-Cyprus row

Kıbrıs Manşet reported on the weekly analysis of the newspaper Simerini. According to the report, a 'pistol' exists in Ankara's hands that questions the sovereignty and special sovereign rights of Greece and South Cyprus, as set out under international maritime law. The report said that under an appeasement formula, France would do the 'dirty work' by requesting Turkey's written permission for the French-flagged research vessel Abeille Marengo.

The report said this could open a gap in Greece's special sovereign rights through France and create a risk that Turkey invokes the Estoppel (principle of contradiction) against Greece. The newspaper also said that the Turkey-Libya memorandum, although illegal under international maritime law, is kept in place by Turkey on the ground. It further reported that Turkey is offering Egypt an additional 15,000 square kilometres beyond what international maritime law assigns to it, with part of this area said to lie south of the exclusive economic zones of Greece and Cyprus.