Greece has not sought, and will not seek, Turkey's permission to lay an undersea power cable to Cyprus, the government said.
The statement was an attempt to calm a diplomatic dispute that threatens one of the European Union's most politically sensitive energy projects.
"No permit, and no licensing procedure of any kind, was requested or was going to be requested from any state other than Greece and Cyprus," government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis told state broadcaster ERTnews.
The stakes reach beyond the two countries.
The Great Sea Interconnector would end the energy isolation of Cyprus, the only EU member with no link to the bloc's power grid.
The cable would run through deep waters that Turkey claims as its own continental shelf, and that claim has turned a grid project into a test of sovereignty between two NATO allies.
Brussels has backed the link as a strategic priority. The European Investment Bank is weighing about 1 billion euros in financing.
The latest dispute erupted Friday. Greek authorities completed licensing for seabed surveys and issued a maritime notice known as a NAVTEX.
Ankara quickly issued a counter-notice and accused a French-flagged vessel of planning unlawful research. France then sent Turkey a note verbale, a formal diplomatic communication, informing it of the surveys.
French firms are building and financing the project. Opposition critics in Athens said the note looked like tacit acknowledgment of Turkish claims.
Mr. Marinakis rejected that reading.
He called the note "the mildest form of communication between states." He said it "produces no legal effect" and is "in no way a permit."
He conceded he had not seen the text and said he was relying on the Foreign Ministry's assurances.
He said there had been no communication with Ankara and declined to say when the survey ship, the Abeille Marengo, would sail.
"Greece must move this project forward in a way that preserves peace in the region, without retreating," he said.
The project has stalled before. Turkish objections froze work for months last year