In simple terms, Turkey has prepared itself for war, and Bostanoglu left it to be understood that Turkey will not stop with its activities in the eastern Mediterranean, while he also had the audacity to state that Turkish forces will keep a close eye on Greek Cypriot oil research vessels in Cyprus' very own EEZ.
"We will act in line with these Rules of Engagement in the event we face a situation over this issue” he said and added: “Our naval forces elements will continue their mission of situational awareness in the region.”The Vice Admiral stated that Turkey’s Rules of Engagement, which had been modified in 2012 when a Turkish fighter jet was shot down by the Syrian army, would apply to Naval forces if there was any disturbance over Cyprus.
“The Turkish Naval Forces is providing support and close protection to the Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa Research Vessel. On the other hand, it continues to keep the drill ship hired by the Greek Cypriot administration under surveillance from nine kilometers’ distance. The order given to us for the moment is not to enter into this nine-kilometer area. That’s why no incident of harassment or disturbance has occurred,” he added.In Athens, the Greek government attempted to downplay the comments and left it to be understood that there were made for Turkey's own domestic consumption as a response to the signing of the Cairo Declaration between Greece, Cyprus and Egypt one day earlier.
(It should be reminded that the joint communique that was issued by all three nations on Saturday urged Turkey to respect the sovereignty of the three countries as well as to cease its provocative surveys and similar future activities in Cyprus' EEZ.)
On Monday, President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias would receive Minister of Foreign Affairs Evangelos Venizelos in order to discuss all the recent developments in our foreign policy. Undoubtedly, the recent trilateral summit in Cairo with Egypt and Cyprus will be at the top of the agenda, along with the delineation of Exclusive Economic Zones.
A short while before the meeting, a report on defencenet, citing Pentagon sources, said that Greece also released its own Rules of Engagement (answering Ankara's threats of war). The report said that the focus is now on the southeastern Aegean and especically in the area of Kastelorizo.
“Greece also has its own Rules of Engagement, approved by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, not only for the Aegean Sea but also for the South-East Mediterranean in defense of Greek national interests. It would a surprise for us if Turks had not such rules,” the report on defencenet said.Between Oct. 20 and Oct. 23, the Russian, Israeli and Greek Cypriot navies conducted a joint naval exercise covering air defense, underwater attacks and anti-submarine operations and developed joint operational procedures. The Russian anti-submarine vessel Kulakov, the flagship of Russia's Mediterranean fleet, and Novorcherkassk, a landing vessel of Russia's Black Sea fleet, participated in these exercises, during which live rockets were fired.
NATO and Turkey were quick to respond. The low-profile "Blue Whale" exercise by a small Turkish naval element and a US logistics ship will be repeated with much larger participation Nov. 6-14.
A report in Al-Monitor claims that Comparing the two exercises, it's notable that while the Russia-Israel-Greek Cypriot joint exercise focused on undersea warfare, NATO’s will focus on surface and underwater reconnaissance, surveillance and anti-submarine warfare. In short, while Russia is trying to develop its military capacity to operate in the eastern Mediterranean without being detected, NATO is working to develop ways to detect Russian moves in advance
Turkish military sources who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity drew attention to several important points. They said that military activity in the eastern Mediterranean has increased to dangerous levels since October. It has become almost routine for warships of rival countries to try to force each other to alter their courses in international waters, send low-altitude flights over rival warships, instigate dog fights in the sky and lock weapons-guiding radar onto each other's vessels. All these point to heightened risks of clashes in the region.
To sum it all up, the Syrian crisis, the Israeli-Palestinian problem, the continuing division of Cyprus, disputes between Israel and Lebanon and between Turkey and Greek Cypriots on the exclusive economic zone and disagreements on resource rights in international waters are all heating up the eastern Mediterranean and jeopardizing the security of critical maritime trade routes. Regional rivalries over $1.5 trillion worth of hydrocarbon reserves is gradually militarizing the issue. The global competition between Russia, which wants to preserve its interests in the Mediterranean, and NATO, which wants to avoid a Ukraine-style fait accompli, are intensifying the conflict. States with interest in the area each appear to consider the eastern Mediterranean "their waters" and will try to impose their views through both diplomatic and military moves.
One can only hope that the pilots of rival air forces and the captains of the warships that frequently encounter each other in the eastern Mediterranean will continue to be not only skilled professionals but also astute politicians with honed diplomatic skills.
Combined reports from: enikos.gr, Hurriyet, Al-Monitor, ANA-MPA and ProtoThema.gr
Posts
