Announcements of military exercises carried out in the Mediterranean Sea are coming from all sides. Open war is still a long way off, but the escalation of tensions between Athens and Ankara does indeed continue.

On the one hand, Turkey said Thursday August 27 that it would carry out military exercises, including firing exercises, on September 1 and 2 off the Turkish city of Iskenderun, northeast of Turkey. Cyprus.

On the other, "Cyprus, Greece, France and Italy have agreed to deploy a joint presence in the Eastern Mediterranean within the framework of the Quadripartite Cooperation Initiative (QUAD)", announced on Wednesday August 26, the Greek Ministry of Defense. This exercise, in which three Rafale planes, a frigate and a French helicopter are participating, is to continue until Friday, August 28.

>> To read: Berlin calls on Greece and Turkey to dialogue to avoid a "catastrophe"

Between the Turkish fleet and the European vessels currently at sea, the Mediterranean had not known such a military presence for many years. American ships are also present as part of NATO missions, but the United States does not seem to want to take part so far. The destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill thus carried out an exercise with the Greek Navy on August 24, before carrying out another one with the Turkish Navy on August 26.

Turkish and European naval forces in the Mediterranean © France 24

"There is an intensity of military movements in the Mediterranean which is quite rare", affirms Hugo Decis, specialist in naval military questions at the International Institute for Strategy Studies (IISS), contacted by France 24. "We are faced with military powers used to this type of deployment, but the context is tense and we are never safe from an incident that can degenerate. "

Greece and Turkey, which came close to war in 1996 because of two uninhabited islets in the Aegean Sea, have been disputing the extent of their respective territorial waters for decades.

Nearly 5,765 billion cubic meters of gas in the Eastern Mediterranean

At stake is access to gas resources in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Determined not to miss out, Turkey has been conducting research for several months in a disputed area of ​​the Levantine basin. On August 10, the deployment of the Oruc Reis, a Turkish seismic research vessel, and its military escort to the south of the Greek island of Kastellorizo ​​was seen as too much provocation by Athens, and triggered an escalation tensions.

The Levantine Basin, which stretches from Crete and the island of Rhodes in the west to the Asian coasts in the east, holds 5,765 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas, according to a estimate of the American Geological Survey carried out in 2010. However, the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) as defined by the international law "imprison Turkey inside its shores", estimates the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, depriving it of all access to the possible deposits present between Crete and Cyprus.

In November 2019, Turkey, which contests the route of exclusive economic zones, therefore signed a maritime delimitation agreement with the official Libyan government to give weight to its claims. This EEZ between Turkey and Libya allows Ankara to extend the area of ​​its territorial waters and also opposes the EastMed gas pipeline project, the result of an agreement between Cyprus, Greece and Israel.

Mediterranean: hydrocarbons that arouse envy © France 24

To counter the Turkish maneuver, Greece in turn signed a similar agreement with Egypt in early August. This authorizes the two countries "to move forward, each deriving the maximum benefit from the resources available in the EEZ, in particular oil and gas reserves", indicates the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Like Beijing in the South China Sea, in conflict with several countries including Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia for the exploitation and control of several islands, Turkey is attempting the policy of "fait accompli". Except that the context is different in the Mediterranean with neighboring European states that have the means to respond, as shown by the escalation of tensions in progress.

>> To read: Conflict in the Mediterranean: Erdogan warns Greece against any "error" leading to its "ruin"

It doesn't matter, says Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Because for him, the stake is not only strategic, it is also political. "The Turkish power has chosen for several years to develop a rhetoric of ascending power, a country capable of dictating its conditions to its neighbors, underlines Hugo Decis. It is therefore a matter of showcasing Turkey's ability to impose itself against its rivals. "

As a sign of its refusal to abandon the standoff with Athens and its supporters, Ankara accused France, Thursday, August 27, of increasing tensions by deploying war planes to Cyprus to express its support for Athens. "The time of the big bosses is over. You have no chance of getting anything from us by doing this," said the Turkish defense minister.

For its part, Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, has been attempting mediation for several days and calls on Athens and Ankara for dialogue.

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