Knives slashed across the throats of two sheep, and their blood gushed out onto the quay jutting into Istanbul harbor. The traditional Moslem ritual of sacrifice was supposed to guarantee a safe voyage for a blue-and-gray-hulled exploration vessel named Sismik-1. As the 1,200-ton Turkish ship steamed toward the Dardanelles, she was saluted by a cacophony of ship's whistles.
Even before the Sismik entered the Aegean Sea, the Greek government had angrily threatened naval intervention, and last week it demanded a U.N. Security Council session to stop the Turkish ship. Retorted Turkey's Premier Suleiman Demirel: "Interception of the Sismik will be an...