Turkey, Greece issue Navtexes
Greece on Saturday issued a Navtex in response to an advisory from Turkey earlier in the day, extending the activities of the Oruc Reis seismic survey vessel in the Eastern Mediterranean through November 29. It said an “unauthorized station” had broadcast a message in the Greek Navtex service area referring to “illegal activity in an area including Greek territorial sea,” and also overlapping Greece’s continental shelf. The Turkish Navtex reserved an area just beyond 6 nautical miles south of the island of Kastellorizo. The Oruc Reis had been set to finish its work by November 23.
Ieronymos stable. Doctors at the Greek capital’s Evangelismos Hospital continued to describe Archbishop Ieronymos’ condition as “stable” over the weekend, saying that he was responding well to treatment. Ieronymos was hospitalized on Thursday after testing positive for the novel coronavirus. Despite presenting only mild symptoms, his doctors decided that it would be best if the 82-year-old were kept under close medical surveillance in augmented care.
Armed forces. President Katerina Sakellaropoulou marked Greek Armed Forces Day on Saturday, saying the commemoration comes at a “particularly difficult juncture,” as she lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of Parliament at downtown Athens’ Syntagma Square. “At this time when Turkish aggression has intensified, my thoughts go out to the men and women in the armed forces who with self-denial and exemplary patriotic ethos have been on alert for months, without the opportunity for rest, to be with their families,” she said, thanking them “on behalf of all Greeks.”
Crime sweep. Police in the Peloponnese remanded 73 people in custody and made 60 arrests during a three-day crackdown on crime across the region last week, the Hellenic Police (ELAS) said in a press release on Saturday. In total, officers questioned 918 individuals and stopped 670 motorists. The largest number of arrests, 31, involved foreign migrants who were in the country without proper travel documents. Eleven suspects were arrested for traffic code violations and seven for drug-related offenses.