According to the Jerusalem Post, "the Bat Galim, a vessel belonging to the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, had researchers from Ben-Gurion University in the Negev aboard, as well as a Cypriot geologist, who were doing research approved by the Government of Cyprus in Cyprus’ territorial waters."
While
...Qatar's satrapy in Asia Minor...does not have jurisdiction over the Cypriot waters, they forced the Israeli vessel to sail south of the island-nation after the brief confrontation.
"The incident took place several weeks after Turkey and Libya signed an agreement dividing up authority over the areas of the Mediterranean between their two countries, which ignores Cyprus’ and Greece’s economic rights in the sea, granting them to Turkey," the Jerusalem Post reported.
The recent agreement between Turkey and Libya’s Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
-based Government of National Accord (GNA) has given Ankara the rights to drill off the coast of the North African country.
This has caused a major issue with several regional countries, including Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, and the Benghazi-based government in Libya.
| The Times of Israel adds: |
The three countries, which lie between Turkey and Libya, blasted the maritime border accord, saying it was inconsistent with international law. Greece has expelled the Libyan ambassador over the pact.
Meanwhile, Ankara has warned it will use its military forces if necessary to halt any exploratory gas drilling in waters off Cyprus that it claims as its own.
The Channel 13 report noted that tensions could negatively affect Israel’s plans for a submarine pipeline to transfer gas from its offshore reserves to Europe, which is set to pass through Cyprus and Greece’s territorial waters.
The report said an Israeli embassy official in Ankara was called in last week for a conversation, in which Turkish officials warned that the pipeline project would require Turkey’s approval.
“The Turks are trying to establish themselves as the ones running the show [in the region], and that is very worrying,” an official told the network.
Neighbors Greece and Turkey are divided by a series of decades-old issues, including territorial disputes in the Aegean Sea. The NATO allies have come to the brink of war three times since the 1970s, including once over drilling rights in the area.
Greece insists the deal with Libya — which has no fully functioning government able to rule across all of its territory — is unenforceable and has stressed that it will protect its sovereign rights.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said he will ask other NATO members at the alliance’s London summit, which was held in the first week of December, to support Greece, in the face of fellow member Turkey’s attempts to encroach on its sovereignty.
Turkey does not recognize Cyprus as a state — but does recognize the breakaway Turkish Cypriot entity, the only country to do so — and is conducting exploratory gas drilling in waters where the ethnically divided island nation has exclusive economic rights.
Ankara has said it is defending its rights and those of the Turkish Cypriots to regional energy reserves.