The Turkish Ministry of Defense released recent photos which it said were maneuvers carried out by its navy in the central Mediterranean between 26-30 July.
The ministry said on Twitter that "within the scope of the Turkish maritime mission group, the frigates operating in the middle of the Mediterranean, in addition to the helicopters stationed on the frigates, and the amphibious assault team, conducted various training activities."
The eastern Mediterranean has become an arena of tension between Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Israel, as Egypt and the European Union entered the crisis line, in light of a dispute on the sea borders and oil and gas exploration rights, and in the midst of the complex conflict in Libya.
Türk Deniz Görev Grubu faaliyetleri kapsamında Orta Akdeniz'de görev yapan fırkateynlerimiz ile fırkateynlerde konuşlu helikopterler, SAT, SAS ve Amfibi Hücum Timi personi aiIrici iiıiçiçiçiçiçiçi.
- TC Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) August 3, 2020
On Saturday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced its objection to part of the seismic surveys that Turkey intends to carry out in the eastern Mediterranean, and said it constituted "a violation and an assault on Egypt's sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone in the Mediterranean."
Ankara was sending the ship "Arouj Rais" to conduct seismic surveys in the region, but later decided to slow down.
Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Qalan said late last month that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had instructed to suspend the activities of the "Aruj Reyes" ship in the Mediterranean until the fruits of the negotiations between the Turkish and Greek sides appear.
It was reported that Greece had put its navy on alert, after Turkey announced its intention to send the ship "Arouj Rais" to the region, and reports indicated that warships from both countries were preparing to patrol the region.
On the other hand, the Egyptian army spokesman announced on July 25 that the Egyptian and French naval forces had carried out "a maritime training passing through the northern fleet in the Mediterranean, with the participation of the Egyptian ghost frigate (Long live Egypt) with the French ghost frigate (Acne)".
However, the spokesman then published a false picture of the exercises, which turned out to be the first time they were posted on the US Navy website, regarding joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean in September 2013.