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The situation between Turkey and Greece is tense. A dispute over gas is raging in the Mediterranean, resulting in provocation after provocation. Now the Turkish Air Force is even deployed.
The Turkish Air Force has reportedly intercepted and repulsed six Greek F-16 fighter bombers off the island of Cyprus. The incident occurred when Greek planes left the island of Crete for Cyprus, the Defense Ministry announced in Ankara on Friday.
Turkey had previously issued a navigation safety warning (Navtex) on Thursday that its research vessel “Oruc Reis” would extend its controversial search for natural gas for five days until September 1.
Greece claims maritime territory for itself
The “Oruc Reis” has been searching for natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean off the Greek islands and west of Cyprus since the second week of August. The mission should have ended on August 23, but was initially extended through Thursday.
A long dispute over natural gas between Greece and Turkey has been reignited at the “Oruc Reis” mission. Ankara maintains that the area in which the ship searches for natural gas belongs to the Turkish continental shelf and that the country has the right to exploitation. However, the Greek islands of Rhodes and Kastelorizo are off Turkey, so Greece, a member of the EU, claims the maritime zone for itself. There is a similar conflict on the island of Cyprus, off whose coast rich reserves of natural gas have already been discovered.
