The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced the conduct of joint Turkish-American naval exercises today in the waters of the eastern Mediterranean, which is witnessing increasing tension between Turkey and Greece.
The ministry stated that the Turkish ship "Gamlik" would participate in the exercises, along with the US aircraft carrier "Eisenhower", south of Rhodes Island.
The two ships are scheduled to participate in wide exercises in the eastern Mediterranean on the 18th of this month.
The eastern Mediterranean region is witnessing rising tension since it was confirmed that it embraced a large stock of energy resources, and is witnessing military maneuvers between multiple parties.
Athens accuses Turkey of illegally drilling for natural gas off its islands, and Ankara responds that it is drilling in areas belonging to the Turkish continental shelf.
On November 27, 2019, Turkey signed two memoranda of understanding with the Libyan Prime Minister, Fayez al-Sarraj.
The first relates to security and military cooperation, and the second relates to defining areas of maritime jurisdiction, with the aim of protecting the rights of the two countries stemming from international law.
The Turkish-Libyan agreement angered Egypt, Cyprus and Greece, in light of an atmosphere of tension between Turkey and Greece regarding the sovereignty dispute over regions in the eastern Mediterranean, and friction occurred between the armies of the two countries in the summer of last year.
A few days ago, military exercises led by the Israeli Navy with the participation of the United States and Greece ended in the Mediterranean Sea, while Washington announced that it was closely following the recent developments in the region and the Turkish-European initiatives to solve the crisis.
The exercises included training in the use of the anti-submarine threat system, search and rescue operations and simulated warfare between military ships and frigates.
And joined - for the first time - all of France and Cyprus.
An Israeli military source denied that the maneuvers were directed against Turkey, and said that Egypt would soon participate as an observer in naval maneuvers in the Mediterranean scheduled on the list of Israeli naval exercises for the current year.