New provocation: Turkey staging naval drills in Aegean Sea

Shaimaa Yahia

Turkey is resuming its provocations against Greece, following weeks of calm between the two countries.

Turkey has issued two naval warnings in preparation for conducting naval drills north and east of the Aegean Sea in the coming period, according to Greek media.

The European Union works, meanwhile, to calm down tensions between the two countries.

The Turkish army conducted exercises in three different locations in the Mediterranean from January 4 to January 8.

The exercises come less than a month after the EU imposed sanctions on Turkey against the background of its provocative policies in the Mediterranean and its violations of the law of the seas off the coasts of both Greece and Cyprus.

Hostile behavior

Greece is responding by conducting similar drills in its bid to make the required deterrence to Turkey. The Greece navy conducted a live fire exercise in the area between Crete and Cyprus islands. Meanwhile, simulation battles are intensifying between Greek and Turkish pilots over the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried to send Turkish gas exploration ships off the Greek and Cypriot coasts several times in the past period. This made Greece and the EU angry.

Deterring decisions

Several countries imposed sanctions on Turkey in their bid to rein it in. The Pentagon and the Department of State took a series of measures against Turkish arms exports and the resale of American arms by Turkey.