Istanbul. June 23. INTERFAX-The Turkish authorities have declared the international part of the Aegean Sea a zone of military exercises in response to Greece's failure to comply with the terms of the Athens Memorandum, the Anadolu agency reports, citing sources in Ankara.
"Contrary to the terms of the Athens Memorandum of Understanding of 1988, the Greek authorities during the tourist season declared part of the international waters of the Aegean Sea a zone of military exercises. As a retaliatory step, Turkey issued a NAVTEX notification on June 22, declaring the international waters of the Aegean Sea an exercise zone, " the source said.
Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called on his Greek colleagues to abandon "provocative actions" in the Mediterranean.
"Greece needs to abandon provocative actions," Cavusoglu said at a press conference on the occasion of the end of the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya.
Recently, the situation in the eastern Mediterranean has become more complicated due to the intensification of Ankara's geological exploration activities in this area. Turkey is conducting oil and gas exploration in the waters that Greece and Cyprus consider their exclusive economic zone. This causes friction between Ankara and a number of EU countries.
Disputes on this topic were also provoked by the growth of military tension between the two countries: each of them began to actively conduct exercises in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, strengthening its military presence there.
As a result, after a series of technical meetings between the Turkish and Greek militaries at NATO headquarters, a military mechanism was developed to resolve conflicts in the eastern Mediterranean.
