By Gifts Antoniou

A strong geopolitical footprint, in addition to the economic or energy dimension, has yesterday’s official offering of the American energy giant Chevron jointly with Helleniq Energy, for the four maritime plots south of Crete and the Peloponnese. In essence, with this development a vote of confidence is given and recognized the perception that Greece captures on the maps With regard to the design of the marine zones, that is, its position for the midline in the definition of marine zones with Libya.

At the same time, in the field and in practice, the expansionist logic of Ankara is canceled and condemned, as expressed in the illegal Turkish -Tourist Memorandum, with which the Turkish side has sought in recent years to consolidate its claims and strengthen its geostrategic position in the southeast.

The two marine plots south of Crete “intersect” the Turkish Memorandum. The plot of “Southern Crete II” in particular, partially overlaps the area of ​​the Turkish Memorandum. And the decision of the US company to submit a formal offerin practice translated into recognition of Greek vision as far as the boundaries of the maritime zones is concerned. This is because the Turkish Memorandum is adopted by Ankara’s position, according to which the islands, even Crete, have no influence in marine zones beyond the 6 nautical miles, which extends the coastal zone.

“I think this is the best proof of the way our government perceives the upgrading of the country’s geopolitical position. We turn into an important energy “player” in the Eastern Mediterranean, which is recognized not only by the European Union but also by the United States of America. “ said the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakiswho linked yesterday’s developments to the meeting he will have today at the Maximus Palace with the US Secretary of the Interior, Doug Bergamwhich handles the energy portfolio, and with which it will discuss the new data and the strengthening of our country’s strategic geopolitical energy role.

How Ankara will react to developments will be shown in the near future. The Turkish side has been actively moving lately, seeking to secure the ratification of the Turkish Memorandum, which has been recognized by Western Libya by the House of Eastern Libya representatives, thus pursuing reinforce its claims. However, after Chevron’s announcement yesterday, the American factor is actively in the game and the balances are reshaped.

The Libyan National Petroleum Company, under the control of Tripoli, signed an agreement last June with the Turkish Petroleum Society (TRAOS), for investigations on four marine plots. Already since the signing of that agreement, it has not been unnoticed in Athens that the Libyan side was moving on a midline and not on the basis of the forecasts of the Turkish Memorandum on the demarcation of the land, which are south of the land that is being granted for research. How the Turkish side will choose to move when the investigations begin and the first TRAO research vessels arrive in the area will be a clear sample of writing Turkey’s movements in the field. A field that now is differentiated enough.