A cable-laying ship lies at the heart of the latest crisis between Türkiye and Greece. Türkiye issued two navigational telexes or NAVTEX last week over the work of Italian-registered C/S Teliri, designating its area of operation within the Turkish continental shelf. The area, between the islands of Rhodes and Crete lies within a region disputed between the two neighbors. No official statement regarding NAVTEX was made by Turkish or Greek officials.

Yet, the move comes amid a thaw in relations between the two countries on the two sides of the Aegean Sea, after a past marked with hostilities.

Navtex, or Navigational Telex, is a maritime communications system that allows ships to inform other vessels about their presence in an area, as well as other information.

The Turkish newspaper Milliyet reported on Sunday Greece and the Greek Cypriots on the divided island of Cyprus south of Türkiye attempted to violate the Turkish continental shelf more than 10 times recently and their attempts were blocked by Turkish military and diplomatic efforts.

C/S Teliri lays cables under the sea as part of a deal between Egypt, Israel, the Greek Cypriot administration and Greece. One day before the Turkish NAVTEX on June 24, the Greek Cypriots issued a telex regarding the area of work of the vessel. Türkiye, in response, issued another, describing the other as issued by an "unauthorized station," emphasizing that the said area was within the Turkish continental shelf. The telex said it was an attempt by the Greek Cypriot administration to legimitize their illegal claims and would not be accepted by Türkiye. The second NAVTEX gave coordinates of the area where the vessel was working and highlighted that it was in Turkish waters.

Türkiye, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected the maritime boundary claims of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, stressing that these excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of both Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriots. Greece and much of the international community do not recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on the island.

The dispute over the waters dividing them arose again this spring when Greece announced that it would build two marine parks in the Aegean and Ionian Sea by the end of 2024, despite objections by Türkiye.

The creation of the park in the Aegean has irked Türkiye, which has accused Athens of exploiting environmental issues to push a geopolitical agenda. Greece’s Foreign Ministry retorted that Ankara was "politicizing a clearly environmental issue." The NATO allies have been at odds for decades over a variety of issues, including territorial claims in the Aegean. A Turkish official speaking to Daily Sabah in May has hinted that Türkiye may map out its own marine parks in the region, in an apparent retaliation. The official has stated that Greece did not consult with Türkiye on the matter and sought to impose it fait accompli.

After a long period of tensions marked by disputes over irregular migration, the Cyprus dispute, energy exploration and territorial sovereignty in the Aegean, Türkiye and Greece have been taking confidence-building steps for a fragile normalization of their relations, which moved into a new chapter with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s landmark visit to Athens in December. Erdoğan later received Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Türkiye while the two leaders are expected to meet again in an upcoming NATO summit in the United States.

During the visit, the sides announced a friendship declaration, visa facilitation for Turkish citizens for 10 Greek islands in the northern Aegean for up to seven days and the decreased flow of irregular migrants to Greece.

While officials on both sides have expressed commitment to maintaining the positive climate, the issues are longstanding and deep-rooted, and neither side expects the process to be without turbulence, particularly in the Aegean where Turkish and Greek jets often scuffled until very recently.

Earlier in January, both Ankara and Athens reached respective deals with Washington for fighter jets, raising concerns of fresh skirmishes in the region.

Ankara has repeatedly warned its neighbor against entering an arms race with Türkiye, particularly on building a military presence on the disputed Aegean islands since the 1960s, in violation of postwar treaties.

Greece's purchase of F-35 fighter jets from the U.S. and the upping of defense budgets are meant to counter the protection of Turkish interests in the Eastern Mediterranean. Greece says it needs to defend the islands against a potential attack from Türkiye, but Turkish officials said continued militarization of the islands could lead to Ankara questioning their ownership.

After their meeting in Ankara, Erdoğan stated that there were no "unsolvable" problems between the two countries, and the two leaders hailed the state of relations while pledging to further enhance bilateral ties. "We had a constructive and positive meeting and discussed problems in Türkiye-Greece relations. We will solve problems through dialogue," Erdoğan said at a joint news conference with Mitsotakis back then. Erdoğan said that Ankara and Athens are committed to resolving issues via "cordial dialogue, good neighborly ties, and international law" as outlined in last year's Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good-Neighborliness.