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.