The ship Oruç Reis leaves its activity in the Mediterranean and returns to Turkey

The Turkish seismic exploration ship Oruç Reis, which was one of the main protagonists of the confrontation between Turkey and Greece in the eastern Mediterranean, has left the area where it was carrying out its work, leading to a de-escalation in the diplomatic clash between the Ottomans and Greeks. 

The ship, which had planned to continue its work in the area until 25 September, has returned to the port of Antalya as part of the talks mediated by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), according to various Turkish media. 

The spokesman of the Greek government, Stelios Petsas, expressed his satisfaction with this decision and emphasised that it is "a positive step" in view of a possible reduction of the tensions between the two countries.

In statements to the Greek television channel Skai TV, he said that Athens "is prepared to resume the thread of the exploratory contacts from where Turkey cut them off in March 2016".

The work of the Oruç Reis had triggered criticism from the Greek authorities, who claimed that it was carrying out its investigations in areas considered to be within its maritime borders. 

Athens accused Ankara of carrying out hydrocarbon prospecting and exploration activities "illegally" at a short distance from several of its islands. However, the Turkish government rejects the accusations and claims that the waters in which gas is being drilled on an experimental basis belong to the Turkish continental shelf.

The dispute over Turkish natural gas exploration off the Greek islands of Crete and Kastellorizo in the eastern Mediterranean has intensified steadily in recent weeks. The European Union (EU) also condemned Turkish activity and called on the government led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop it, threatening sanctions.

The Turkish president has been developing an expansionist policy in the eastern Mediterranean for months with a belligerent attitude that includes military actions in the wars in Libya and Syria, and even in the territory of Iraq. Everything is aimed at gaining a greater geopolitical position in the Mediterranean arc and obtaining a greater share of the area's rich gas and oil resources. 

Greece's and the EU's rejection of the Eurasian country's position was heightened by the Turkish activity generated by the pact sealed at the end of last year between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Fayez Sarraj, prime minister of Libya's National Accord government, which secured Turkish military support for Sarraj's militias in the Libyan war and also distributed economic areas in the Mediterranean denounced by the EU institution for violating Greece's maritime borders.