Turkey issues new Navtex for Barbaros valid until November 9 (Update 2)

Turkey issued a new Navtex for its seismic  research vessel Barbaros on Friday, after it moved from an area off Famagusta to an area off the western coast of Cyprus earlier in the day.

According to CNA, the new Navtex begins October 10 and ends on November 9 and will cover areas off the coast of Cyprus.

The Barbaros will be accompanied by the ships Tanux 1 and Apollo Moon.

Turkey had issued a Navtex on September 18, through which Ankara extended the Barbaros’ operations off the south eastern coast of Cyprus until October 18, a move against which the Cyprus government protested.

Three days earlier, on September 15, Turkey extended the operations of its Yavuz drill ship off Cyprus until October 12, in a move that Cyprus described as provocative.

The Yavuz vessel first began operations east of Cyprus in July 2019.

The ship left the island’s exclusive economic zone and headed back to Turkey on October 4.

Another vessel which carried out research in the contested area, Turkey’s Oruç Reis returned to waters near the southern province of Antalya on September 13.

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

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.