Turkey Plans Military Exercises Near Greek Shores

Turkey has issued notifications regarding military exercises in the northern and eastern regions of the Aegean Sea. According to one of the notices, an area to the east of Mount Athos is scheduled for the next week. As reported by Kathimerini, this area is part of the Aegean Sea that is entirely under Greek jurisdiction.

Another notification pertains to the demarcation of an area between the Greek islands of Rhodes and Kasos for conducting artillery and search-and-rescue exercises.

The political and military tensions between NATO allies have escalated further after Turkey attempted to conduct hydrocarbon explorations off the coast of Cyprus and near Greek islands, citing a maritime agreement with Libya.

Athens and Ankara are set to hold preliminary talks this month in an attempt to reconcile; however, Turkey's announcement of new naval exercises near Greek shores may jeopardize those efforts.