Turkey: Responds with illegal anti-Navtex to Greek military exercise

Ankara has reserved for an aeronautical exercise a maritime area, which the Greek Armed Forces had earlier reserved, by issuing an anti-Navtex, while on August 9 it is expected to take out the Turkish floating drilling rig Abdulhamid Han.

The area between Rhodes, Karpathos and Kastellorizos had been reserved by Greece for a joint exercise of the Navy and the Air Force with target attack scenarios and image exchange between ships and aircraft.

Following a standard tactic, Turkey via NAVTEX issued at the last minute from the Antalya station, reserved a sea area at the same point (between Rhodes, Karpathos and Kastellorizos) for its own live-fire aeronautical exercise for August 3, challenging for once again the limits of Greece’s maritime jurisdiction.